Nightingale
by Sweet Bitter Life
Summary: Worried about the mental state of his godson, Sirius Black decides to take Harry and Hermione with him to Japan for a fresh start. Later on, Sirius enrolls them in the fanciest school there is… Ouran Academy. Harry has too much already with his own trauma; will he be able to handle a group of hosts as well? My take on the now cliché plot. [HPxMori, KyoyaxHr]
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings:** AU after OotP and no horrocruxes. There will be slight bashing depending on the characters. Slash and het ; Official Pairings: Harry/Mori, Tamaki/Haruhi, Kyoya/Hermione. Other pairings may come along the way. There will be child abuse/neglect, character's death, and probably mild smut in later chapters.

**Disclaimer:** **This will be the only time when I will write this, so pay attention. I don't own Harry Potter either Ouran HSHC and no money is being made out of this.**

**Important Note: **

At the end of Harry's fifth year, Harry managed to kill Voldemort, but it left him scarred and in a delicate mental health. The Battle was bloodier and horrible. Sirius's name was cleared when they captured Pettigrew, and he was recompensed for his stay at Azkaban. After the Battle, the DMLE was left along with the Order to capture the stray Death Eaters. Bellatrix and the Lestrange brothers were responsible for the death of Hermione's parents. Sirius decided to adopt Hermione by magical means and become her magical guardian. Since both her and Harry were severely devastated with the events of the Battle, Sirius decided to immigrate to Japan for a fresh start.

**Chapter One:**

The plane flight to Japan was a long one. Sirius now really regretted his decision to travel by airplane; he needed a good stretch and wanted to move his legs a bit. It might have been first class, but he damn couldn't stand being seated for more than eight hours. At least the flight attendant had been cute.

His eyes drifted to the two sleeping teenager next to his side. A petite raven-haired boy with squared spectacles was right beside him. The boy appeared no much older than fourteen, fifteen at most, but Sirius knew the boy was about to become seventeen in next July. Next to him slept a young lady, with frizzy brown hair and with a book tangled in her hands. She rested her head on the boy's shoulders and it pained Sirius to wake them up. He poked them slightly on the ribs and both frowned in their sleep.

"Harry, Hermione, wake up," He whispered.

The girl, Hermione, was the first one to wake up. She looked around confused before it settled in her head where she was. She looked at Sirius with sleepy eyes. "Are we there yet?"

"We're about to land in any moment." Sirius explained. "Next time, don't ever let me get inside on one of these things again, alright?"

Hermione giggled softly and decided to wake Harry up by shaking his shoulder gently. The black haired boy flinched and groaned in his sleep.

"No… no, get away!" He trembled and mumbled in his sleep.

"Harry, wake up! We're almost in Japan!" Hermione almost shouted into the teen's ear.

Harry literally jumped from his seat, startling the couple and their daughter which were seated in front of them. The teenager awkwardly apologized and then prompted to glare at Hermione.

"What was that for?"

"We're almost there!" She explained excitedly. In that exact moment, the young flight attendant appeared and asked them to clasp on their seat belts and to remain seated for the plane was about to land. Hermione placed her book inside her bag which, Harry noticed, was an English-Japanese dictionary. He smirked playfully.

"Have you learned anything new?" He asked.

Hermione replied with a glare. "Probably more so than you; it's not like you're making any effort in learning the language."

"Well, I don't need to. I know Japanese." He said smugly.

"No, you don't," Hermione replied with a whisper. "You just used that translation charm on yourself and now you claim you know every single language, when the truth is that you don't!"

Sirius looked amused at their bickering. Hermione was the smartest witch of the generation, but for some reason, she had problems learning Japanese, not that it had stopped the young witch from trying. Harry, in the other hand, had decided he wasn't going to be able to learn Japanese in such short notice and so, Sirius told him of a Translation Charm. The charm will enable the user to understand those who spoke in foreign languages and when Harry replied to them, the listener who would be hearing Harry will think he was speaking their language. Japanese, in this case.

But that didn't mean Harry was free from learning the language in its whole. Sirius had told him, using his stern guardian voice that he was to stop using the charm in three months, and if he didn't want to sound like a dimwit, he was to learn Japanese before then.

Sirius closed his eyes for a moment to take a deep breath. He was finally able to start a new life with his godson and his new ward. He'd never before thought he would be in such a situation, but here he was. He had reinstated his title as Lord Black and started to settle down as a businessman, a decision which had startled many, who didn't believe him to take something seriously. Of course, Sirius was still the lively prankster from his youth, but money had to come from somewhere, now that he had two teenagers to raise and care for. Especially two scarred teenagers which had suffered long from the war and the Death Eaters.

Scars and memories needed time to heal and fade away, and living in a country where they were constantly on alert and in everyone's eyes wasn't going to help either of them.

Japan was a nice country, from what he had heard and read. After a long visit to the Black's family solicitor, he learned of the family's dealings with various companies and corporations in the eastern country which were turned on hiatus once the Black Heir was arrested and his father died. After having his name cleared and manipulating the Minister and the Law Enforcement officials on erasing any trace of his stay in Azkaban in his public, private, medical and whatever records were on existence, Sirius decided it was time to give the old family businesses a bit of his attention.

Once the plane landed fifteen minutes later, it took them a least another ten minutes to get off the plane; thankfully Sirius had shrunken their bags and luggage so there was no need to spend another half hour searching for them. They left the gates area and Sirius told Harry and Hermione to stay close as he searched for the airport's exit.

"Where are we going now, Siri?" Harry asked with his eyes still groggy. Now that he was awake, Sirius could evaluate his godson better. Like before, Harry's height was very similar to a fourteen year old, and he was very petite and skinny. Sirius's eyes always saw red when he remembered how Harry had be neglected at the Dursley household. And Dumbledore even wanted to make Harry return to that hellhole after Voldemort's death! Sirius didn't allow it; he had promised his godson no harm would fall upon him, the same thing he promised to Hermione once the Death Eaters had targeted her for a while.

Harry's emerald green eyes peered at him with curiosity and Sirius was woken from his thoughts.

"Well, we are supposed to meet an old friend of mine who offered hospitality and invited us to stay at his home. He told me to wait for him at the front. He should be there by now." Sirius told him as they walked between the masses, both teenagers trailing behind.

They finally arrived to the main entrance of the airport, where all the travelers were leaving or meeting their family members and such. Sirius's eyes searched above the crowds and his face was lighten up almost immediately.

"Come on," He told his charges; Harry and Hermione only nodded and followed him.

Sirius's friend was tall and blonde and had that particular air and grace pure bloods always seem to have. But this man had a warm smile and his eyes brightened the same way as Sirius's once he saw them. Once they reached him, Sirius made the proper introductions.

"Harry, Hermione, this is Nekozawa Akihiko. Akihiko-san, they are Potter-Black Harry and Granger-Black Hermione, my godson and my adopted daughter." Sirius introduced proudly.

Both teenagers greeted the tall blonde with the proper courtesies from Japan. Nekozawa-san smiled at them and then stepped in to give Sirius a hug as a more informal greeting.

"You seem well, Siri-kun," The man said.

"I can say the same for you," Sirius replied, then turned to the confused teenagers. "The Nekozawas are a long generation of pure blood wizards and they have many business dealings over the world, especially with the Russian and the British families. In one of the many summer and Christmas balls I was forced to attend by my dearest mother, I met Akihiko and quickly enough, our purposes soon became to drive all the guests mad with our ingenious ideas for pranking. I didn't get to see him much once I ran away from home, but I'll never forget the summer ball where the all guests' skins turned blue after eating treacle tart for dessert."

Harry snorted at the image in his head and Hermione just shook her head. Akihiko just chuckled, remembering the good old times.

"Your godfather was one of the few reasons I looked forward to those boring gatherings. He knew how live up things a bit. I was surprised when you contacted me again, after all these years. You have to tell me how you ended up in that foul place; you were always rather impulsive, but not enough to blow up thirteen muggles off a street. You could barely kill a fly."

"I would be delighted to, but maybe after I rested up a bit. They seem to be tired too." He pointed at Hermione and Harry, who both nodded energetically.

"Of course; come on." Nekozawa-san guided them toward a black limousine, where the driver was waiting for his boss and his guests. Hermione started gushing out how has she never had been in a limousine before and Harry told her that neither had he.

The driver opened the doors for them and he seemed a little wary that they didn't carry any suitcases. Once inside, Harry noticed how dark the limousine, the crystal from the windows were almost opaque and there was only dimmed light to see the seats.

Harry didn't like the dark at all. No matter how many years he spent in the cupboard, he always got that prickly feeling on his skin when he was in a dark place. He wanted to ask if they could lower the windows, when he noticed another figure sitting not so far from them.

He could see the light blond strands of hair, not as light as Malfoy's hair but close. He was also tall and he was dressed in a rich blue suit, which looked oddly enough like a uniform. He had warm bright blue eyes filled with curiosity, a wicked grin, and a cat puppet on left his hand.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that this person was Akihiko-san's son.

"Everyone, this is my son Nekozawa Umehito," Akihiko-san introduced. Umehito grinned at them, and every the puppet seemed to be saying hello.

He introduced Sirius, Harry and Hermione as well, and rapidly began to explain that his son was also a wizard, although not like the average since Umehito had heliophobia, or more commonly known as photophobia, which explained the dark windows of the car. Umehito-san was just a year older than Harry and Hermione and he assisted a very prestigious private muggle school. Akihiko didn't want his son away in a magic boarding school with his condition. He had hired a magical tutor so Umehito could learn and train his magic. Sirius found this a brilliant idea.

The two adults were left to their conversation and Umehito spoke with the two young wizard and witch and told them all about his club.

"Wait, so you're a Dark Wizard?" Harry asked, a bit alarmed.

Umehito chuckled. "While is true most of my family tree is Dark and we do practice Dark magic to some extent, we Nekozawas pride ourselves on being neutral. The whole "Black" magic concept is because the muggles at the academy gave us that name; everything that has to do with magic is Dark or Black for them. My intention was to call it the Magick Club, but I quite like our name. Is funny to see them freak out whenever I'm around or my club is mentioned."

Harry laughed softly at that while Hermione kept asking him what sort of things they did in his "Black Magic" club.

"We mainly practice minor spells and charms and study ancient runes or texts," Umehito explained. "We can't really do big spells due to the risk of the muggles finding us out. We also like to prank the student body too; we have invented ridiculous hoax curses to scare them. It's really funny actually."

"It's nice to see you have inherited your father's sense of humor," Sirius said, who had been hearing them for a while. Umehito just grinned wickedly at him.

Harry and Hermione were telling the older teenager about the D.A. when they finally arrived to the Nekozawa Estate. Before they left the car, Umehito dressed himself with a long woolly robe with a hood, which awfully reminded Harry of the Death Eaters, just without their masks. A shiver he couldn't suppress ran down his spine.

The manor was very impressive. The walls were decorated with many paintings, but almost all the windows were closed, or curtained; hence the poor daylight that managed to come through. Sirius had enlarged their luggage and Akihiko had one of the servants take them to their rooms.

After giving them a quick tour of the house and meeting Akihiko's wife Chiyoko and their littlest daughter Kirimi, who had a servant following her around and seemed scared of Umehito for some reason, they sat down for lunch. Harry and Hermione were well received into the Nekozawa house and Sirius was pleased to reunite once again with his old friend.

Sirius, Harry and Hermione were introduced for the first time to a proper Japanese meal and Harry had a bit of difficulty getting used to his chopstick, something Sirius found hilarious. At the end, Akihiko had to ask a maid to bring him a fork and Harry almost died of embarrassment for it.

The Nekozawas, as Sirius had said earlier, were a long standing pure blood family. Chiyoko had been from a small pure blood family and she had been also tutored in her youth like Umehito about magic. Nekozawa Akihiko had many business contracts with other muggle businessman and saw fit that his son attended Ouran Academy, so he could learn how to deal with muggles once he handed his inheritance to his son. Kirimi was a sweet little blonde girl, if a little bit obsessed with princely characters and fairy tales. She had already given signs of accidental magic and her parents wanted her to assist the closest magical boarding school so she could have the experience their older son didn't have. Finally, they explained them that not many Japanese Wizarding families owned house elves, and so, they had maids. Two of them, Kirimi's nanny and Umehito's driver, were magical and so, they were entrusted with the care of both heirs.

"So, Sirius-san" Chiyoko asked once dessert was served. Harry had declared that he felt tired after a long trip and Hermione also said she felt like refreshing herself. Umehito had offered to show them to their rooms and after excusing themselves, they have left the dining hall. "What are you plans now? My husband told me you plan to retake the reins of the Black enterprises here in Japan. But what are Hermione and Harry going to do meanwhile? Are they to go to a boarding school?"

"Merlin, no!" Sirius said. "If that were the case, I wouldn't have left England at all. While is true I plan to bring Black Enterprise back on board, the main reason I came here was to find a little bit of peace. For me, and for Harry and Hermione. After the war, we all deserved some. Those two have gone through what no child should have, and I just want them to enjoy what's left of their teenager years."

"That's understandable," Akihiko said. "We might be miles apart, but news fly like you wouldn't believe. The first war was dreadful and there were even terrorist movements here for some time too. Then, after thirteen years of silence, we heard the second coming of Lord Voldemort and we didn't know what to expect. Those rumors died soon, apparently involving certain godson of yours."

"Yes, Harry," Sirius sighed, not wishing to indulge on the subject, but he couldn't well avoid it. "The kid's tough, but lately, he had been in the verge of break down. It was actually him who made me finally decide upon coming to Japan. He needs to heal, and he couldn't while in London. Hermione too; she lost her parents not so long ago…"

Akihiko and Chiyoko exchanged a look; they were lucky didn't decide to visit England last year as they had planned. For the look in Sirius's face, it was terribly bad. Sirius smiled wistfully at them, the shadows from his gray eyes clearing a bit.

"I thank you greatly, for letting me and my kids stay here. It won't be for long, I plan to find a place by the end of the week. I'm sure my family must own a house somewhere, they have one in almost every influential country…"

"Nonsense, Siri-chan," Akihiko said, knowing how much Sirius hated being called like. Like he expected, Sirius glared at him. "You will stay as long as you need to, we love the company. And I think both Kirimi and Umehito had started doting both on Harry-kun and Hermione-chan."

"I really appreciate it," Sirius replied with his usual goofy smile.

A few minutes later, the adults noticed that the manor was two quiet for their taste, and decided to search for their charges.

**A/N: Our hosts won't make an appearance until 3rd chapter or so. Now in the story, Sirius, Harry and Hermione arrived six months before Haruhi started her first year at Ouran, which given that in Japan the school semester starts in April, that would be early November. **

**There will be angst mixed with the light fluffy feeling from the Host club, due to Harry and Hermione's past, which we will be described in more depth as the story continues.**

**Hope you like it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

The warm water fell on her bushy chestnut hair, and down her slender body, washing the soap foam down the drain. When she felt refreshed enough, she turned off the shower and the water ceased to fall. Blindly she found a towel and proceeded to dry up her body, while with her other hand she grabbed her wand and spell her hair dry. It made her hair ever bushier than if she were to dry it up naturally, but she was in a hurry. Today was her first day at muggle private school and she didn't want to be late.

Hermione Granger, or Granger-Black if you were to use her official name, stepped outside of her bathroom and into her room wrapped into a towel. Vaguely she remembered when at first she couldn't get used to it; it was double the size of her old room at her old parent's house. The walls were covered with a pale green wallpaper, with little roses patterns spread here and there. It held the usual furniture made out of rich wood and wide windows which allowed the sunlight to come in. Her old room paled in comparison with this one. But that was the perks of living in an ancient Black house. She was used to it by now anyways; she had to be, since it had been six months since she came to Japan.

Over her canopy bed, was laid a yellowish gown with long sleeves and white cuffs and collar. She took a deep breath before she dressed herself. It was the official female uniform for the private school and the colour was hideous enough to give her a headache. Yellow definitely wasn't her colour.

While she did that, unconsciously her mind traveled to her first days in the land of cheery blossoms. They had been quite challenging and a bit distracting. Like she had expected, adapting to a new country wasn't easy, but she was prepared for it. She had wanted to learn, and forget for a while about all the reasons they had moved away from Britain.

Sirius, upon their arrival to Japan, didn't waste any time and started searching for the Ancestral Japanese Black House, which he found a week later. In that time, they stayed at the Nekozawa manor and Umehito became a good friend of them, going as far as calling him their sempai. The house, which wasn't in between two muggle buildings this time, was an actual manor settled on a high hill near the outskirts of the city. It was protected with many wards and even a Fidelius Charm, its secret keeper being the Black family barrister.

Fortunately, the house wasn't a dark as Grimmauld Place and didn't have elves head plaques hanging in the hallways. With the house came a very broad library (which Hermione had all but claimed to herself) and three helpful house elves, which were fairly different to Kreacher. The house was already decorated, and it had always been in a clean state thanks to Tawny, the oldest of the elves. Hermione had vouched for them and had a very long and heated argument with Sirius about freeing the three elves, but Sirius explained they couldn't get rid of them, since their magic were bound to the Manor. That, and the fact the elves started crying when she had presented a pair of socks to them.

The weeks after that, their time was dedicated to see sight and visit all the places Japan had to offer. While they teenagers played the roles of tourists all around Tokyo, Sirius was having many meetings with the CEO and the barristers of the Black Empire. It turned out, for all the blood purism the Blacks preached, they had several muggle business chains, as well for their magical businesses. For the first days, Sirius was stuck inside four walls, reading contracts after contracts, which added more fuel to the prankster's foul mood. Harry and she were always subjected to endless pranks when Sirius arrived tired and stressful from "work".

Japan was lovely, in Hermione's opinion, and had a broad magical history, even if they didn't have many Dark Lords or Wizarding Wars. But she couldn't help sometimes feel terribly homesick. She missed Britain, even after half a year after they left.

Hermione was brought back to the present when she heard a crash sound coming from downstairs. In a normal house, she would have probably found it rather odd and worrisome. But in that house, it wasn't so unusual. She did live with Sirius Black, one of the four Marauders and Harry Potter, who attracted far too much trouble for his own good. She just shook her head and fixed the ribbon around her collar, which it was nearly asphyxiating her.

When she was satisfied with her appearance, the girl grabbed her school satchel. Her wand was hidden inside her arm holster, almost dillusionated. After the incidents in Britain, she had made of a habit to always carry her wand around, no matter the circumstances.

As she walked down the staircase to the first floor of the manor, she could hear more clatter and bangs echoing on the walls. They were coming from the drawing room. She noticed there were broken vases spread on the carpet floor, and some of the paintings were ragged, not the mention the burn off spots on the walls. She groaned out loud, irritated.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK AND HARRY JAMES POTTER!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

Almost instantly, the clatter died down. She heard the shuffling of feet coming from the room and two hushed voices.

"Do you think we're in trouble?" A deep voice spoke.

"It's Neenie, Padfoot; what do you expect?" Another voice replied, this time a little higher than you would expect from a teenager boy. Hermione made up her mind and entered the drawing room.

To say that the drawing room was utterly damage was an understatement. Hermione could barely recognize the place they use to practice dueling. She looked at the two males she unfortunately had to live with. Both were wearing sheepishly grins and staring at the floor.

"Can you tell me what the hell were you both doing?" She spat angrily.

"Um, dueling?" the green eyed male, namely her adopted brother said. The adult beside them grinned a little more widely.

"I can see that Harry," She replied quirking an eyebrow. "Did you have to destroy the room in the process? And why did you feel the need to duel minutes before we leave for school?"

"We didn't destroy it!" Sirius exclaimed. "Not completely," He winced as he gazed at Hermione's glare.

"And we were just burning up energy for today!" Harry added, smirking.

The only female of the house, that is, if you don't count the house elf, took a deep breath to calm herself down. Then, with a loud voice, she called:

"Tawny!"

A loud pop was heard next and standing right next to her, a small elf stood with large brown eyes and wearing a pristine pillow cover with the Black crest engraved on it. Tawny was the oldest of the three elves, and by default, the leader. The elderly creature looked up to Hermione with a big smile.

"Good morning, Mistress Hermione miss! What can Tawny do for you, miss?" the elf said eargely.

Hermione blushed a bit before answering. "Tawny, how many times do I have to tell you to not call me mistress? Hermione will suffice." The bushy haired girl heard sniggers behind her, but she ignored them for the moment. "I need your help Tawny. These two… ugh! These two made a disaster of the drawing room, as you can see."

Tawny looked around and her large eyes widened even more. She scowled at Sirius and Harry. "Master Black, Master Harry! What have you done?!" Without waiting for a reply, the elf started snapping her fingers, fixing and cleaning the room with her magic.

"Thank you, Tawny," Hermione smiled. She shifted her gaze at Harry, who stood straight once he realized Hermione was staring at him. "Where's your uniform?"

"Upstairs," The green-eyed boy replied. Harry was only dressed in his pajamas bottoms and a white t-shirt, the same with Sirius.

"Then what are you waiting for? Do you want to be late for you first day at Ouran?"

"Maybe"

Hermione gave a heated glare and Harry ran out of the room, before Hermione's eyes could burn him up.

"Good morning, kiddo," Sirius approached her and gave her a one-armed hug. "Sorry 'bout this." He pointed at the mess the house elf was currently working on. "You see a bit eager today. Excited much?"

"Very," Hermione giggled when Sirius tickled at her sides. They both walked towards the kitchen, where they waited for Harry to arrive. Hermione sighed; Harry should really show a bit more of interest for their new school, even if it is a muggle one.

In the past six months, Harry and her were assigned to magical tutors since Sirius didn't want them to fail on their magical education, but didn't want to send them away at a boarding school. They studied, even though they still had months for their NEWTs (or the equivalent of seventh year exams in Japan) to look forward to. Given their OWLs, they allowed to only study those subjects which they had excelled (Harry had wanted to drop Potions, but Hermione didn't let him).

Hermione, of course, continued with all her classes with the same dedication she did at Hogwarts. She also included other subjects to her schedule, like Warding and Healing. Harry had decided to take Professional Dueling, hence the little spar earlier. From late-November to mid-January, they focused on their magical subjects, and neither of them had thought about muggle subjects before. That is, until one afternoon when Sirius returned from his daily work, annoyed and mumbling swear words under his breath.

Apparently, Sirius had met one of his business associates from the Black Corporation that day. A man called Ootori Yoshio.

Normally, Sirius would pay no mind to the words of those who he worked with. He was a Lord, Lord Black no less, and with that came the usual arrogance from pure bloods, even if Sirius did try to hide it. But that day he was fuming angrily from whatever Ootori Sr. had told him. Hermione eventually got the details, in a very explosive manner.

"He accused me of being an irresponsible guardian!" Sirius had cried that evening. "Just because I told him you guys didn't go to school! Of course, he didn't say it outright in my face, but he hinted at it and even my barrister seemed appalled with me! Me!"

Hermione had snorted at that. "But Sirius, you're a wonderful guardian!" she had told him to ease him a bit.

"So, I was forced to tell him that I was currently searching for a school for you guys. You know, acting all worried about your education and all,"

"You say that as if you aren't really concerned with our education," Harry had muttered.

"And he told he could recommend a good school for you! He said it was the best school in all Japan and how had all his children studied at the place, and before I knew it, I had an appointment with the chairman of said school! Merlin, that man is infuriating! And Tanaka says we can't cut off business with him no matter how much I want to… Isn't it sad?!" Sirius had whined before banging his head on the table.

"But Sirius," She had said. "We haven't been to muggle school for five years! We're way far behind!"

"Besides, didn't you want us to stay here? I think we have enough homework for a while," Harry added, grimacing.

"Yeah, I know…" Sirius sighed, then he pouted. "I'm not a bad guardian, right? I'm cool; any kid would want me as their guardian, right?" Both teenagers had rolled their eyes at the Animagus insecurities but had answered positively. Not that Sirius was a bad guardian; he just wasn't the ideal parental figure. He was more of an older brother or the funny uncle every family haves.

"Did he told you the name of the academy?" Hermione asked, ever the avid learner.

"Something Ou... Ouroun or something..." Sirius whined again.

"It's Ouran, Sirius," The bushy-haired girl corrected. "That's where Umehito-sempai goes and haves his Black Magic club."

Harry, meanwhile, he was shaking his head. "I don't want to return to muggle school. You can just get us muggle tutors and that's it."

"That's also a possibility," Sirius perked up. "He just made me feel real awful about it, and now I'm wondering if keeping you guys here is any good. I mean, I haven't seen you guys making any friends or anything, and we're here to have a start a new chapter in our lives."

"That's very poetic, Sirius, but really, you shouldn't listen to what that man says," Harry had said exasperatedly. "We're better off like this; if aren't going to a magical school, why should we go to a muggle one? Don't let it get to you," Harry had smiled over at the animagus and Sirius had smiled back.

Back then, Hermione had wondered why Harry was so averse to assisting Ouran Academy, but forgot about quickly.

Given that Ootori had even offered to accompany Sirius to visit the chairman, Sirius just couldn't wave out his escape from the meeting. To Harry and Hermione's surprise, Sirius had actually _liked_ the school and the whole educational system.

"It's pink!" The animagus had almost squealed. "You'll have your classes determined to your year, and you have to join a club as an extracurricular activity. But aside from that, it seems the perfect place to waste money and time!"

Harry laughed at that and Hermione just frowned, loathing the idea of wasting time in a school.

"But of course," Sirius had continued with a playful glint in his eyes. "If you guys are so set in not going muggle, I'll just get you those muggle tutors."

Hermione was all for it; she missed the type of environment she had at Hogwarts, and a school was a school, no matter if magical or no-magical. She still had many opportunities to learn. Something in her face must have shown her feelings towards the idea, because Harry just groaned in defeat and agreed to attend Ouran.

At the end of January, they had started their quick tutoring, even dropping a few magical subjects for the moment. Hermione as always, passed all her quizzes, but Harry didn't have the same luck. He was pants at math and anything number related, though, he was quite adept at languages and surprisingly enough, history. (Maybe because it wasn't taught by a ghost). Both had to take entrance exams, to update their muggle school records. The only unfortunate occurrence was, since Hermione was a year older than Harry, she was to go a year above him. Harry hadn't been really happy about this.

Speaking of certain green-eyed male, Harry arrived to the kitchen a minute before Sirius was to drag him downstairs.

"I'm ready, Neenie," He announced. The male Ouran uniform, even after tailored, was still too big for Harry. The boy continued to be thin and small, even after all the nutriment potions he was forced to drink by the healers.

"Well, if everybody is set, let's go!" Sirius announced.

"Aren't you supposed to get reading for work?" Hermione reminded. "Tanaka said you had to arrive early today,"

Sirius pouted. "But as your guardian, I'm entitled to drive you guys to your first day of school! My motorbike is waiting for us outside!"

"Siri, I'm perfectly capable of Apparating Harry and me to school." Hermione had no desire to arrive to her first day at Ouran in an old motorbike for the sole reason that she didn't want a headache so early in the morning.

One quick look at Harry and Sirius's face told her she was going to, rather she liked it or not.

~oOo~

Once Ohtori Kyoya, third son of the Head of the Ohtori Hospitals, Ohtori Yoshio, was satisfied with his appearance and had everything ready for his first day as a second year student at Ouran High School, he walked out of his room and went to find the dining room, where he was sure to find his father and his brothers.

As he entered the dinner room, he flicked up his glasses over the bridge of nose and bowed to his family, with an additional "good morning" to his father. He took seat to the right side of the Ohtori patriarch, and commenced to feast in his breakfast, a combination of pancakes, scrabble eggs and his morning coffee.

What occurred from that point on was no more than minimal chitchat between the brothers. Kyoya's mind continued to wander to Tamaki and the opening of their club. A year had passed since they had established the Host club and things have flourished from then. The club was very popular between the ladies of Ouran Academy. For Kyoya it meant more profits and funds for their activities, so he was satisfied. Tamaki was already talking about a Spring Ball for late-April or around early-May. If the "King" wanted to have all the paraphernalia they usually have for every ball, he will have to—

"Kyoya," His father interrupted his muse.

"Yes, sir?"

"I have gathered that there's to be a new transfer student in your class this year, as well as a certain first year. They are both related to Lord Black, an acquaintance of mine. They are both from Britain, so I wish for you to give them a fair welcome and to give them assistance if they so need it."

_Foreigners, lovely,_ Kyoya thought sarcastically, thinking about the last time he was ordered to befriend someone who wasn't familiar with Japan. But if they were related to Lord Black, the man who had cause an uproar in the balance of the most successful businesses in the country, he knew better than to waste the opportunity.

"I believe they are called Granger-Black Hermione and Potter-Black Harry," His father continued.

Granger and Potter? He had never heard of those surnames before. Why would they carry those names before "Black"? Were they adopted? "Yes, sir. I'll be welcoming towards Granger-san and Potter-san." He replied to his father.

Once he finished with his breakfast, he bid farewell to his brothers and father, and allowed Tachibana to guide him toward the limousine. He felt his phone vibrating, and to his annoyance, it was a text message for Tamaki. He asked him where he was and when he was to arrive. Kyoya replied hastily as he sat on the leather seats inside the car. Once they left behind the Ohtori Estate, Kyoya took out his laptop and just like he did with Tamaki two years ago before befriending the blond, he infiltrated the school's online records and searched for the applications of one Potter Harry and one Granger Hermione.

As he read through the files, he came to a surprise, not that he expressed his astonishment on his face.

Except for the transcription scrip, birth certificates, and fairly recent physical exams, there wasn't anything at all on the two mysterious transfer students. Both Granger and Potter had taken entrance exams on March, and they were certified by a tutor. Granger had the highest marks, almost surpassing his own marks on his entrance exam. Potter had done fairly good, but not as nearly as his sister. He found Granger's and Potter's records from elementary school, but once both children became eleven, it was like they had disappeared from the face of the earth. Until half a year ago, when they arrived to Japan.

Granger Hermione was to be in his same classroom, 2-A, while Potter was to go to 1-A, the same classroom as the twins. He was fairly certain he would get acquainted with the girl in no time, maybe he could convince her to visit the Host club too. And if he got friendly with Granger, he could become friendly with Potter as well.

He suppressed a scoff. It was too easy.

When Ohtori Kyoya arrived to the front gates of the school, he wore a cold smirk on his lips.

**A/N: Thank you all those who reviewed, favorite and followed. **

**I'm going to include both anime and manga timeline in this story, so if you find something that didn't happen in the anime, it's because it happened in the manga and vice versa. The host will come next chapter to play, isn't that exciting? **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

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	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows!**

**My apologies if you find any missing word or any spelling mistakes, first, English is not my first language so I may get mistaken sometimes and I don't have a beta. I always spell-check my work and look for any missing slips, but one can do as much.**

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**Chapter Three:**

A slender, long thin body slithered around the high grass and the inopportune rocks in its way. The sunlight warmed up the tiny scales in its skin, its light pink tongue tasting the air. It really enjoyed the sunshine and the new found liberty; at his master's house he always had to stay inside, but here, he could anywhere he wanted, if he kept himself out of anyone's view.

A particular scent was in the air, a scent he was well familiar with. The serpent whirled around and followed the scent, which lead him to an old cheery blossom tree. It was spring season, but he was no more than a hatchling, so he still didn't feel the need to find himself a mate. At the bottom of the tree, was sitting a young raven-haired boy with his eyes closed and sleep the afternoon away. He tossed and grunted in its sleep and his brows were furrowed in confusing. A little moan escaped its lips along with pleading words.

"No… get away… leave us…" The boy murmured in its sleep. While the snake couldn't not speak human because it wasn't in its nature, he did understand quite a bit and he could scent the distress in his young master.

The snake approached the boy and climbed up his arm until he could face the young boy. _"Master! Wake up, master! It's just a night terror, young hatchling! Wake up!"_

Harry heard the far away hissing in front of him and he abruptly opened his eyes. A snake was hanging from his arm, looking at him with concern, if snakes could really show such feelings. He felt his heart beating miles per hour and his skin was cold from the sweat. He had another nightmare.

"_Are you okay, young master?"_ The snake hissed.

The image of blood and death corpses flashed through his eyes. He shook his head and smiled weakly at his snake. _"Yes, Gaius, it's alright,"_

The snake didn't seem to believe him, but it didn't ask him again. Harry sighed in relief and laid back on the bark of the tree.

It had been long since his last nightmare, almost three months. He was certain he passed through that stage, but it seems like he was wrong. He was lucky Gaius had woken him up before he could start yelling his throat out.

He looked down to the small snake attached to his left limb. The snake, a Naja Naja, or better known as an Indian cobra, was coiling up to his warmth. Harry smiled at his companion and let the small guy rest; he hoped it won't wake until he arrived home.

He had met Gaius a month after they arrived to Japan. He and Neenie were visiting the Wizarding shopping district under Tokyo and they had just passed a magical pet shop and he had entered the place to buy his owl Hedwig some treats. Unknowingly, he went to the reptilian area and found himself in the snake area; suddenly, he was speaking with at least ten snakes at the same time.

Gaius had been the most witty and sarcastic of the group, and oddly enough, the only one alone within a crystal tank. Since he was no more than a common Indian cobra, with no magical powers whatsoever, he didn't expect to be bought, and neither did the shopkeeper. Something akin to compassion and empathy was what drove Harry to take Gaius home with him. The snake, the shopkeeper and Hermione were all equally surprised with his decision, and Gaius was forever grateful. The snake was beautiful indeed, even if it just was a common cobra. Dark scales, quick as the wind, and a very special personality that sometimes reminded Harry of his old Potions Professor. Sirius was a little wary at first, and Hedwig and Crookshanks were surprisingly angry with Harry for a little while, (Hedwig even refused to send Harry's letters to Umehito) but they grudgingly accepted the new addition to the family.

Dumbledore had once told him that his ability to talk with snake was an ability that was transferred to him when Voldemort tried to kill him the first time. He was satisfied with that answer for a while. Until Voldemort died and he continued understanding the serpents. So he decided to look into his ancestors by his mother's side. In the 1770's, one of his great-great-great and much greats later, grandmother had married into a family of hidden Parselmouths, and after that union, at least one Parselmouth had appeared in his family tree until the late-1880. After that, his mother's line had been giving birth to squibs, until much later when his mother was born. His mother didn't have the gift, but it was given to him, and Harry didn't really mind.

When he told this to Sirius, he was very surprised that Lily Potter nee Evans had blood of Dark wizards in her family tree.

"But given the temper of that woman, I should had a least suspected it." He replied with a goofy grin.

Harry closed his eyes as he sighed, the slightly warm breeze playing with his hair and loose tie. He stretched out his left leg, which had been asleep for a while and he inhaled the scent of the various smells around him, and his lips revealed a small content smile. He was the very image of easiness and quietude.

"Um, Potter-kun?"

Harry groaned below his breath and opened up one green orb; he found himself looking at a young brown haired boy with large chocolate eyes. The boy, who was in his class, was carrying too many books in his brittle arms; Harry wondered how the petite boy could lift them all without a strain.

"Yes, Fujioka-san?" (1)

Fujioka lowered his gaze, seemingly abashed of getting his attention. "You have a snake coiled up in your arm."

Harry looked down at Gaius, who was sleeping soundlessly. He smiled a bit. "I'm aware of it. He's mine."

"Ah," Fujioka nodded his head. "Isn't it poisonous?"

"Very; I advise you to not get in his way when he's angry." Harry replied and almost laughed out loud when Fujioka stared at the serpent in avid terror.

Fujioka, even though he looked startled, continued to ask questions about his familiar. "What's his name? What species he is? I didn't know snakes were allowed in the Ouran campus,"

"His name is Gaius and he's a Naja Naja, or Indian cobra, if you preferred. And no, they aren't allowed; I just brought him along today because he was bored."

Fujioka furrowed an eyebrow. "How can you know he was bored?"

"I just can," Harry said swiftly. Fujioka rolled his eyes, somewhat annoyed with his answer.

It had been almost three weeks since he started attending Ouran, and it was already set in his mind that it was the most ridiculous, exasperating, and annoying place on the planet. The majority of the students didn't come here to study, they came just to waste time and fool around. They were the biggest gossipers, even worse than the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff fifth year girls. You couldn't even find silence in the three libraries the place had, and it was something that irritated Neenie to no end. Harry didn't visit the libraries unless he couldn't find a way to avoid them for the same reason.

The students in his class were frivolous and spoiled and liked to rant about anything. If Sirius wanted him to make friends, he certainly wasn't going to find them in his class. Not that he wanted anyways. He had Hermione and he had a sort of friendly relation with Umehito-sempai and that was enough for him. He didn't really need anybody else.

Fujioka Haruhi was barely an acquaintance of him. He was the only guy who had common sense and wasn't as superficial as the rest, but that was because he wasn't filthy rich and knew what is like to live without luxury. Fujioka was humble and modest and really cared about his studies, as far as Harry could tell. But then, the guy arrived one day with an expensive Ouran male uniform and started hanging with the Hittachin twins. So Harry began wondered if his view of Fujioka was too far-fetched.

"Well then, if you're not in danger of being bitten by a poisonous snake, I must be going," Fujioka bowed his head and turned around. The books in his arms almost fell over, but Harry was right behind him and caught them in time.

"Want a hand?" He asked with a small grin. "Where are you taking these?"

"Thank you, Potter-kun." Haruhi gave him a grateful smile and divided the group of books in half. Harry placed the books in his right arm so he wouldn't wake up Gaius. "I'm actually going to the Host club; I'm kind of late."

Harry raised an eyebrow as they walked down the hallway. "Never thought you'd be the sort of person to visit such a club,"

Haruhi laughed softly. "Not really, no. If I had my way, I wouldn't step foot in that music room if I could help it. They are really nuts. Didn't I tell you I own them a debt now?"

"Really?"

"Yeah; I gracefully stumbled into a rather expensive vessel, worth eight million yen, and since I'm broke, I have to work as a Host to pay it back."

"When did this happen?"

"Roughly a week after school began; I was looking for a quiet place to study and instead, I found myself being almost choked down by rose petals."

"I'd hate to be you," Harry replied playfully and Haruhi somehow managed to nudge him on the ribs.

A hissing sound came from the small snake tangled on Harry's limb and Haruhi back away from the serpent, suddenly scared. Gaius crawled up his arm and wrapped himself around Harry's shoulders. Haruhi stared with wide alarmed eyes and Harry just chuckled.

"Gaius, this is Haruhi; Haruhi, this is Gaius." Harry replied.

"_Why is this small looking human with you, Master?"_ Gaius hissed.

"Is he angry or something?" Haruhi muttered, keeping a fairly distance away from him.

"Nah, he's just curious about you."

"_Where are we going? I want to sleep some more!"_ Gaius protested. Harry just rolled his eyes.

"_Lazy snake,"_ he hissed below his breath when Haruhi turn in a corner. He thought he hadn't heard him, but it wasn't the case.

"What did you say?" Haruhi asked with interest.

"Nothing, just speaking with Gai,"

"_Hey, I know what you're saying! Don't call me Gai! And I'm not lazy!"_ The serpent rubbed his scales against Harry's skin and the boy groaned uncomfortable; the skin around his neck was very sensitive and Gaius enjoyed tickling him merciless.

"Well, this is my stop," Haruhi stated suddenly. They have finally arrived to the Third Music Room and they could hear a ruckus from inside the doors.

"Well, let's go in," Harry hurried. He didn't particularly want to go in, but he wasn't going to stop mid-way after he had offered his help to the brown haired boy.

Once they opened the doors, Harry was suddenly transported to the tropics. He was quite certain he entered a music room, and that the tropical plants and the foreign animals didn't belong there, neither in Japan, for that matter. In front of him, were six men dressed with only robes around their waist; they were all barefoot and wearing golden jewelry. They had shouted a loud "Welcome" once the doors opened, and unfortunately, Harry almost choked with the rose petals.

"_Oh, why is it so hot in here?"_ Gaius appeared from under Harry's blazer and looked around. "_I like it; can we stay for a while?"_

"_You wish,"_ Harry hissed in return and left Haruhi to deal with his club mates. Seriously, who turns a classroom into a tropical paradise? He left the bundle of books on a free coffee table and cleaned away the sweat from his forehead. It was definitively too hot for his liking.

"He's Potter Harry-san, a classmate of ours." He heard Haruhi saying.

"Ah, we remember him," The twins said at the same time. "He's that kid who sits at the back of the class,"

Harry wondered how many people had actually noticed him. As far as he knew, there haven't been any furtive glances and whispered words towards him. It made him a bit uneasy. After being a big shot in the Wizarding World (and what came of it) he didn't wish to be the center of attention again.

"Bye, Fujioka-san! Good luck in your studies!" He waved back to the petite boy hurriedly. He noticed the tall blonde looking at him with curiosity in his eyes, but that was probably because Gaius hadn't bothered to hide. But before any of them could call on it, he was always half way through the door.

~oOo~

"Haruhi, you're late!" Hikaru and Kaoru said at unison, greeting their favorite toy.

The brown haired girl was too busy staring at the decoration. She muttered something about rich bastards under her breathed and approached her club mates.

"I could be wrong, but I was quite sure it was late spring outside, and summer isn't usually this hot," She pointed out.

Tamaki was in the middle of a grand speech describing the benefits of giving their customers a nice tropical paradise when he noticed the black haired boy who was carrying her daughter's books. He could be wrong, but he swore there was a snake on his shoulders.

"Haruhi, who is he?" He asked in a whisper, not wanting the other boy listening to his queries. "Is that a snake?"

Haruhi looked back at her classmate, and nodded. "He's Potter Harry-san, a classmate of ours." She weakly nodded towards the Hittachin twins.

Both red-head nodded in acknowledge. "He's that kid who sits in the back of the class."

"Like if you guys didn't sit in the back too," Haruhi grumbled out. She looked back to thanks Potter-san, but he was already reaching for the door.

"Bye, Fujioka-san! Good luck in your studies!" the boy shouted. Tamaki, his eyes shining with glee, was about to stop the boy, but before he knew, Potter was gone. He pouted, upset, before snapping his fingers.

"Kyoya!" He called.

Said Shadow King appeared at his side in less than a second. The others gathered around, waiting for whatever Tamaki was going to speak.

"What do you know about Potter-san?"

Kyoya's eyes weren't seen, since the light was reflected on his glasses, but the air around them became chilly, and that in itself was impossible, since the heater was at full power in the music room. The Shadow King kept scribbling on his notebook, taking his time in answering. The other members exchanged glances between them, confused with the Shadow King's behavior.

"Kyoya?" Tamaki asked, a little wary.

"As you know, Potter Harry is in 1-A. His full name is Potter-Black Harry James, adopted ward and godson of Black Sirius, otherwise known as Lord Black."

"Lord Black?!" Five voices shouted in awe. Four voices because they have heard about Lord Black from their parents and the fifth voice because she didn't knew there was such a title in the first place.

"Adopted ward and godson?" Hikaru added. "That kid must have the best luck in the whole world!

Somewhere inside the walls of Ouran, Harry sneezed.

"He's an average student, probably could be more if he wish to. He's natural from Britain, heir to the Lord Potter title and businesses, which I must say is small compared to the Black Empire. He rarely seen with anyone except for his sister and he haven't joined any of the clubs. Strangely enough, he seems to enjoy the company of Nekozawa-sempai."

"Aw man," Kaoru whined

"Who?" Haruhi asked.

"Sister?" Hikaru added.

"But what about his snake?" Tamaki pouted.

"Nekozawa Umehito is a third year student in Hunny's and Mori's class," Kyoya answered. "As for the snake, I suppose it's his pet, and while there isn't a rule against bring your pets to school, I'm sure bringing a poisonous snake would be frown upon."

Haruhi couldn't argue with him; Potter might have thought the snake was pretty harmless, but if he were to lose it while they were in class or something…

"And as for your question Hikaru, his sister is Granger-Black Hermione, a student in our class," The name was said with a hidden disdain many couldn't pick up.

When Haruhi heard a high pitched giggle behind her, she thought the guests had finally arrived and they were laughing at them. Imagine her surprise when she realized it was actually Tamaki giggling like a little girl.

Well, maybe not so surprised.

"What's up with you, boss?" Hikaru and Kaoru quirked an eyebrow.

Tamaki tried to stifle his giggles. "Ah, it was nothing, my fair subjects! Just remembering a delightful memory…" Kyoya visually stiffened.

"What are you talking about, Tama-chan?" Hunny inquired from atop Mori's shoulders.

Tamaki smirked smugly. "Let me tell you, Granger-san is such a brilliant young woman! Not only she has a dashing beauty, but her intelligence is beyond any I have encountered. It's only been three weeks into the school year and she's already the top of our class!" Tamaki's hair flipped upwards, as it had been playing with the wind.

"The guests are about to arrive," Kyoya simply stated, and indeed five minutes later, the door to the music room opened to reveal the first group of customers.

If anyone notice Kyoya's icy demeanor afterwards, nobody asked him about it.

Later, when the fuzz calmed down a bit, Haruhi approached the auburn haired twins, which were taking a break from their guests. She decided to ask them what had been bothering her earlier.

"Why was Kyoya-sempai looking as he was about to kill someone, mainly Tamaki-sempai? I mean, he always seems indifferent to Tamaki-sempai's antics but—"

Both boys suddenly grinned widely. "Didn't you get it?"

"Well, maybe you don't know—"

"But Kyoya-sempai has always been—"

"The top of his class, ever since grade school—"

"Many have tried to surpass him—"

"But none have succeeded—"

"Until now,"

"You mean Potter-san's sister?" Haruhi asked interested.

The twins shrugged slightly "The boss did say—"

"That Granger-san—"

"Is the top student of their class and it has been only three weeks since the semester started." They ended with another grin and walked away, leaving the cross dresser girl with her thoughts.

Suddenly, Haruhi could understand why the Shadow King appeared more pissed than usual. She did not have time to dwell on it though, as three of her regular customers called her away.

~oOo~

When Tamaki had finally finished "convincing" Haruhi that she was to learn how to be a gentleman (a.k.a learn how to dance a waltz) the girl, in a fit of anger and frustration, left the music room in a haste, ignoring the twin's offering of a ride to her house. Tamaki wasn't going to back down from the words he said. If Haruhi wanted to be and act like a guy so badly, then she was to learn how to be a gentleman. He couldn't understand why Haruhi showed so little interest in her natural female gender. It was true that she had a better chance clearing her debt feigning to be a male, but… Haruhi would make such a cute girl if she would only act the part to it!

But well, if his daughter wanted to be rebellious, Daddy will show her what it means to be a proper host, and by consequence, how to be a gentleman.

The first step; teaching her how to dance. Tamaki giggled inwardly and began daydreaming about having Haruhi's body close to his, holding her tight and sliding gracefully around the music room, a beautiful symphony as their background music and Haruhi blushing prettily as she profusely apologize for stepping on his foot. He would receive her words with a charming smile and she would—

"Tamaki, wake up," A voice said next to him and Tamaki was rudely startled from his fantasies.

"Wa, what?"

"You have been sitting there for an hour," Kyoya swiftly replied. "Everyone has left already,"

And indeed, only Kyoya and he were currently in the music room. It was already cleaned and reorganized after their tropical cosplay event. It was surprising how it big it looked when it was void of human interaction. He suppressed a shiver and decided he preferred the music room when it was filled with chatter and laughs from his friends and guests.

Incidentally, they were both sitting at one of the rich wooden tables next to windows, and he realized it was quite late, for the sun was already setting.

"Why are we still here?" Tamaki pouted.

"I decided to stay for a while to continue working on the preparations for the Spring Ball(2), since you were such a help earlier. As for you, you might want to answer yourself."

Tamaki winced at the Shadow King's tone of voice. Why Kyoya always managed to make him feel like a child who had been caught red-handed?

"You don't know how valuable you are to the Host club, my friend! We certainly couldn't have done anything without you!" Tamaki tried to appease.

"Certainly," Kyoya said dryly.

"Is there anything else you might need my assistance with?" Tamaki pulled his seat closer to the Shadow King's, who was typing away in his pineapple laptop. "Is there anything else we need?"

"We have already have the confirmation of the chairman for the reservation of the main hall, the school orchestra has agreed to been in charge of the music, the catering service is already settled, the—"

"May I see the guest's list?" Tamaki put in, not quite concentrated in Kyoya's words.

Kyoya handed him over a paper sheet without baiting an eyelash and continue listing. "We will need to ask the maintenance group of the school to triple check for any novelty that could cause us a problem the night of the ball, and as your insistence, I asked the team to decorate the main hall with white lilies and gardenias."

"There's someone missing on this list," Tamaki spoke abruptly, frowning at the piece of paper.

"That's ridiculous; I have invited all of our regular guests and the female first years," Kyoya assured.

"Well, yes, I can see that, but I don't see Jonouchi-san's name or Granger-san's name," Tamaki pointed out.

Kyoya flicked his glasses over the bridge of his nose. "Ever since we established the Host club, Jonouchi-san(3) has never shown an interest in our services, so I believe we should save ourselves the disappointment." He drawled.

"I don't understand her really," Tamaki commented casually. "Between you and me, I always feel like she dislikes me or something, but of course that's ridiculous!" Tamaki laughed warmly and Kyoya just sighed. Leave the fool to his own thoughts, his mind provided.

"I can understand Jonouchi-san, but why isn't Granger-san on the list?" Tamaki asked again. "Is it possible that you may have skipped her name accidentally? You know you should always double check—"

"I did double check," Kyoya grunted out.

Tamaki let drop the list on the table and looked at him amused. "Are you still sour about Granger-san?"

"Of course not," Kyoya answered a bit too soon.

Unexpectedly, Tamaki chuckled. "My dear friend, it was just a test! Sure, she got a higher score than you by five points but I'm sure that's nothing to worry about! Actually, I believe it was time for you to grant the position of top student to someone else, don't you think?"

Kyoya just glared at the blonde male seated beside him. Tamaki fought the shivers running down his spine.

"Maybe not," Tamaki whispered to himself. "Regardless, I want you to send an invitation to Granger-san. I find her to be delightful company,"

"She's an insufferable know-it-all," Kyoya spat angrily, clearly thinking out loud.

There was silence between the two boys. Tamaki eyed Kyoya with a knowing glint in his eyes. Kyoya avoided his gaze.

"Granger-san will be delivered an invitation this afternoon," Kyoya relented at last. He shut down his laptop rather harshly and stood up from the table, grabbing his belongings as he hurried towards the door.

When Kyoya left the music room, Tamaki grinned widely. He had never seen his best friend acting so presumptuous before; he would even dare to use the word childish if it wasn't for the fact that such a word would never describe his friend.

"At last, Kyoya meets his match…" Tamaki said to the empty room.

**A/N: **

**(1) I know many other stories, and not only crossovers, but normal Ouran fics as well, make the main characters figure out Haruhi's secret by just looking at her. I don't believe you could just notice Haruhi is a girl by just looking at her. There's a reason why none of the guests at the host club knew about her real gender, you know?**

**(2) In the manga, its Christmas Ball, in the anime is Spring Ball. Since there are clearly not in December, I will go by the anime on this.**

**(3) Jonouchi Ayame is a character which makes her debut in Chapter 17 of the manga.**

**Again, I hope you like this chapter!**

**.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Forgive me for any missing or misspelled words. I don't have a beta and while I always double check my work, I'm not perfect and I make mistakes.**

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**Chapter Four:**

It was a rather windy afternoon and the curls from Hermione's hair were running wild alone with the breeze. Every now and then a curl would get into her mouth and she would move it away with a huff. Harry just chuckled every time it happened. To him, the wind would only caress his black bird nest and make it worse than normal. Hermione eyed him with envy.

"Why couldn't I have hair like yours?"

Harry snorted. "I'll trade my hair with you any day, Neenie."

Hermione just sighed and keep walking down the cobbled street, the plastic bags hanging from her arms. Harry and her had gone to the supermarket right after school, to do the groceries for the second time in a month. The house elves had wanted to do the shopping, but both Harry and her wanted to go out and walk around for a bit, to clear their minds. As they were returning home, they were talking about their time at Ouran, which hasn't been so long at all.

"I still don't feel comfortable being in a classroom without you," Harry said suddenly.

"That's because now you can't count on my notes for class," Hermione replied playfully, and Harry had the decency to blush.

"Of course not! I mean, I'm used to seating next to you or R—" Harry's emerald eyes became glassy for no more longer than a second, and then he cleared his throat. "We've always been together, and I don't like that we're not anymore."

A few seconds passed in silence and Hermione knew Harry was having flashbacks of the old times. She couldn't think of anything comforting to say, since she was having the same flashbacks as well, of a tall and lanky red-headed boy with a voracious appetite and a hot temper. Slowly, she placed a hand on the boy's shoulders, showing him her support.

"It's alright, Harry. You know he wouldn't want you to feel this way."

Harry gave her a side glance, but he wasn't angry or annoyed. Just profoundly saddened. "It's been almost a year…" He whispered. "Can't believe it has been so long…"

She would have reply, but in that moment they just had arrived to the front yard of the Black Manor, and there was a large motorbike parked down in front of the porch. That just meant that Lord Black was back from a day at work.

The Black Manor, Japanese edition, was really a welcoming change from Grimmauld Place. There weren't dark objects nearby, no elf heads plates stuck to the walls and definitively no Walburga Black painting screaming foul words at them at the foyer.

It had many rooms, but only seven bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, were in use. It also had a living/drawing room, a big kitchen, a library, a dining room, the master's office, a cellar/potions lab, a great hall to host parties and balls, and anything else you could find in a pure blood manor. The furniture was of a Victorian style and there were many paintings on the walls. It was also heavily warded with the magic of the old Black ancestors, plus the new wards Sirius decided to place. It was a very dreamy house and more often than not, Hermione felt the house came out from a fairy tale.

"Siri is home!" Harry said happily and even with three heavy bags on each arm, he managed to run all the way to the door. The bushy haired girl rolled her eyes and decided on walking instead.

"Heya pups!" Sirius greeted with a huge grin once they entered the house. The man was undoing his tie with one hand and unbuttoning his suit with the other.

"How was work, Sirius?" She asked as she carried the bags towards the kitchen and Harry trailing right behind.

"It was alright, if it wasn't for the fact that Tanaka was driving me crazy and following me around all day!"

"That's his job, Siri," Hermione reminded. "He's your assistant."

"Well, he's doing it too well, I think," Sirius huffed. "What's for dinner? I have a craving for Italian; can we have spaghetti?" He said, looking towards Harry.

The black haired teenager, who's usually in charge of making dinner (when the house elves allow it) glared at Sirius. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I do have school work to finish, you know!"

"Sorry," Sirius said none apologetic at all. Harry just sighed and ordered him to help Hermione with the groceries while he started cooking for the evening.

"So, how was school?" The Head of the Black family asked his female ward.

"It was okay, all things consider. Ayame-san and I spent lunch doing our homework at one of the libraries."

"I lost Gaius sometime at mid-morning, but he came back to me at club hours. It is more exciting, you know," Harry put in while taking out the pasta. Hermione scowled.

"I told you to keep an eye on him and you lose him?" She almost shouted. "What if someone saw him or he bit someone? Just because you can talk to him doesn't make him any less dangerous!"

"Neenie, relax! He knows he can't disobey me, and he usually stay in the tall grass hunting for rats! He knows we can't have him spilling out his venom!" Harry shouted back.

"Hey, calm down you two!" Sirius's voice said above theirs. "No arguing when Harry is making dinner!"

A loud pop was heard, which startled the three members of the house. Tawny stood next to the doorway, with a disapproving frown on her wrinkly face.

"Master and Young Master and Mistress shouldn't be fighting!" The elf glared. Both teens flushed pink. Satisfied, Tawny looked at Hermione and handed over a pink rectangular parchment. "Mistress Hermione has received a letter, miss!"

The girl shared a glance with both males and swiftly took the letter in her hands. Without further ado, the elf popped away. Hermione ripped open the pink envelop and started reading the message inside. Sirius and Harry waited expectantly.

"This must be some kind of joke," Hermione stated a minute later.

"What do you mean, my dear?" Sirius asked, and Hermione more or less threw the paper at his face.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"An invitation!" Sirius exclaimed. "Miss Granger-Black, we cordially invite to the formal Ouran Spring Ball, to be hosted on Saturday. We would appreciate your presence at such wonderful event… You never told me you were getting invited to balls!"

"It's not a big deal, Padfoot. I think Ayame-san isn't going either, but that's because she hates Tamaki-san…"

"Tamaki?" Harry inquired.

"The president of the Host club, the group sponsoring the ball. He's rather sweet and charming, actually. He's like a combination of Lockhart and you, Sirius." Hermione grinned at the Animagus.

"I do not know who you're talking about," Sirius said, mild offended. Harry laughed, getting the reference. "So that's why your friend hates him?"

"No; she hates him because even though he acts like a fool most of the time, he's second in our class. She has grades complex."

"Then I don't want to know what she's going to do to you once you start taking your exams. You know, since you're definitely going to be top student," Harry said as he laid out the pasta inside a pot with hot boiling water.

"Well, I'm not sure about that. There's a guy in my class who has been the top student even since he was in grade school, and even if he's kind of a jerk, he's very brilliant."

"Who is that?" Sirius asked interested.

"Ootori Kyoya, the most manipulative evil git you could find. He's best friends with Tamaki-san." Hermione said bitterly. "He doesn't seem to like me that much ever since the teachers started complimenting _me_ instead of _him,"_

"What? The guy can't deal with a little competition?"

"By the looks of it, he thinks I'm the worst thing that has ever come in his way," Hermione stated and Sirius barked out a laugh, which both teens joined.

"So, are you going?" Harry asked.

"No, not really, no," She replied. "You know I'm not a big fan of balls like these."

"What are you saying? You should definitively go! You were invited!" Sirius ranted.

"That doesn't mean I'm obliged to go,"

Sirius pouted and huffed, annoyed at Hermione's answer. He read the invitation again and got a pensive expression which Harry didn't like at all.

"You know what you should do? Go. Go to that party or ball or whatever. Go and dazzle all the guests. You can't possible spend a Saturday night stuck inside this manor." Sirius said after a while.

"Sure I can; I have to study anyways,"

"Yeah, but I won't allow it. You have me as your guardian, not Remus, and certainly not Snivellus.

"What Professor Lupin and Professor Snape have to do with it?" Hermione quirked an eyebrow up, confused.

"That I'm a better guardian than they would ever be! Now, we need to find you a dress, some nice shoes—"

"Sirius, you don't—"

"Yes I do! I might be a guy, but I do have a great taste in fashion! Yellow is definitely not your color, but maybe..."

Hermione searched Harry with her eyes, asking for help. The black-haired teenager, however, just chuckled, and ignored the musings of his godfather. Hermione groaned in annoyance. After almost a year of living with Sirius Orion Black, both of them knew that when something gets stuck in their guardian's head, there's no way to change his mind.

"Harry, something's burning," Sirius stated all of the sudden, pointing at the oven.

After watching Sirius and Harry fighting their way into the kitchen and trying to save the burned up food, Hermione decided it was better if they dinned out anyways, preferably to a nice pizza parlor.

~oOo~

Hermione was certainly beautiful and dashing when all the preparations were finished. Sirius, as expected, went all in all, and bought Hermione the best and the most expensive dresses on sale, even though she kept telling him she didn't need anything showy or jazzy. She knew it was a lost case, since Sirius pretended to have deaf ears each time she tried to rationalize with him.

A half hour before the ball was due to start, Hermione was standing in the middle of the apparation Atrium, wearing a beautiful golden evening dress with glittering touches all over. It was strapless and accented with the most delicate of jewelry, a pair of diamond earrings and a necklace that once belonged to one Elladora Black. Her hair was pristinely ironed and was held back with hair clippings. In Harry's opinion, she looked even prettier than she did at the Yule Ball back in fourth year.

Sirius, meanwhile, was annoyingly excited and practically bouncing off the walls.

"But will you look at youself! If I weren't your guardian and twenty years younger, I would definitely escort to the end of the world!"

"Thank God you aren't," Hermione whispered under her breath and Harry stiffed a laugh.

"You look nice, Neenie," Harry complimented. Hermione thanked him with a small smile.

"Well then, Miss Granger, if you are definitely ready, please hold on to my arm." Sirius, who was in all his glory wearing a rather impressive black suit, stood next to her offering his arm. The now silky brown haired girl blushed a little and locked arms with him. Sirius gave one last glance at his godson.

"You wait here, alright Prongslet?" Sirius winked at him, but before Harry could reply, Sirius disapparated. Harry's stomach filled with dreadful foreboding as why exactly Sirius wanted him to wait for. He didn't have plans besides staying in his room and do his homework, but something told him his schedule was about to change.

Five minutes later, a smiling Sirius came back to the atrium. The Animagus found his godson sitting next to the fireplace in a comfy armchair, with Gaius at his feet. Said godson raised his wary gaze towards his godfather.

"Alright, pup! Since the lady of the house is now partying, why should we, attractive and handsome young men stay inside four walls, when we could perfectly go out for the night?" Sirius grinned, pulling Harry to his feet.

"You do realize I'm still a minor, right?"

Sirius stopped dead in his track and looked back at him with a frown. "You know, any other teenager your age would be delighted at the prospect of free alcohol and late rendezvous with an awesome godfather as me. Why are you arguing?"

"It's not that I'm arguing, but I know that if I let you do something immoral or illegal, Neenie will have my hide and I rather not get in trouble." Harry deadpanned as he watched Gaius slither back to the fireplace.

"Don't worry, Prongslet! We'll just go where the night takes us!" Sirius smirked deviously and before Harry could say a cheeky reply, they apparated away.

Later that night, Harry promised himself he would never, _ever_, go in a "Guy's Night Out" with Sirius Black and that he would never step foot into an _okama_ bar again. He was enough traumatized with all the Boy-Who-Lived business; he didn't need Sirius to add more fuel to the fire.

~oOo~

Kyoya Ootori was a person who never backed down from a challenge, no matter how difficult and over tasking could be.

Tamaki was a good example of this. His so called best friend was annoying, eccentric, and overall idiotic to no end, but he still was friends with him and, and dare he say it, was even fond of the damn fool. It was an everyday challenge to stay sane around Tamaki and he felt he was an expert at it. He could always maintain his cool and hide away his irritation every time the blonde came to him with a new absurd idea, and that in itself was challenging.

Managing the Host club was another good example. Being a Shadow King wasn't a walk on the park, and if it wasn't for his intelligence, resourcefulness and cunning, the club would have ceased to exist long time ago. Although it could never be compare to managing an exclusive and successful business, Kyoya thought of his control of the Host club as some sort of practice for the future years. He wanted to show his father that he was more than capable to be the Head of the Ootori Corporation, even if he was the third son.

That particular challenge would always rise up his spirits, because it was some sort of game for him. It was alluring and exhilarating and Kyoya enjoyed it, even if he hid his emotions behind a stoic facade.

Other minor challenges could be his dealings with the members of the Host club. But as surprising as it was, he didn't mind the twins' devilish banter and Hunny's uncontrolled cravings for sweets. He certainly didn't mind Mori-sempai's silent nature, and neither did he find an objection to Haruhi's bluntness and apathy. If he could deal with Tamaki, who could be worse than all the six of them together, he sure could deal with the rest. It was all for business after all.

And even if he didn't admit even to himself, he always awaited expectantly those afternoons where they would take refuge inside the four wall of the clubroom.

And now, even though it had been harder than he originally thought, he wasn't going to back done for this challenge, after he had been over all the above mentioned challenges.

Yeah, sure, he didn't expect Potter-san to be some kind of loner who only spoke with a _commoner_, no pun towards Haruhi intended, and he surely didn't expect Granger be a smart studious girl who could possible through him off the hook if he didn't pay attention, but he wasn't backing down from the challenge his father gave him.

It was quite possible that his father didn't exactly mean for him to become friends with the adoptive charges of Lord Black; the man only said to bid them welcome, but Kyoya wanted to be in a fair relation with them, at least as an acquaintance. It was more than Yoshio Ootori was expecting and Kyoya knew this. And Kyoya wanted to surpass his father's expectations.

He also knew that competing with Granger in academics wasn't exactly the way you made friends or even acquainted with someone, but _dammit!_

The girl was smart, _too smart_ and she wasn't the type to fool around with. She was not like the other girls who were perfectly contented with a cutesy compliment and a charming smile. Granger had to ask for the veracity of the words given to her and their real meaning. The girl didn't trust anything you told her, no matter if it was a fact or opinion. If it was a fact, she would look for proof and if it was an opinion, you needed to explain the reasoning of your opinion.

It also didn't help that Granger had grown an immense dislike for him in the few weeks after school began. Her dislike of him almost rivaled Jonouchi-san's dislike for Tamaki.

With Potter-kun, he didn't have an exact opinion, since he haven't had a single interaction with the black haired boy. He would watch the teen from afar sometimes, and he noticed the times when the boy would share company were very few. And Potter-kun seemed to only deem himself important to speak to Nekozawa-san and Haruhi, which didn't make sense at all.

And then, there was the lack of information. Every source he had tried to search in, it came empty. For five whole years, both Granger and Potter had been missing from any records whatsoever. What he had only managed to gather was two death certificates of one Dan and Emily Granger, and James and Lily Potter, both from Britain respectably. The death cause of both couples was labeled as unknown.

Kyoya knew it was a far cry, but he couldn't help but think that maybe these people and his school mates were related somehow.

Both Potters were working inside the Law Enforcement at the date of their death, and the Grangers were dentists, until their death in July last year. He couldn't possibly imagine the reason why Lord Black would adopt the son of two policemen (if that's the job the Potters had) and the daughter of a pair of dentists. It was all very confusing and mind breaking.

Unfortunately for Kyoya, he couldn't lay down if there was a mystery in front of him begging to be solved.

It was also very unfortunate that he was currently stuck at a ball, dancing with airheaded girls who only giggled and fainted, when he would rather be at home solving the mystery around Potter-Black Harry and Granger-Black Hermione.

Although watching Haruhi kiss another girl had its merits.

No, not those kinds of merits.

Kyoya kept dancing with one of his regulars until the song ended. When it did, he bowed down to the princess and the third-year girl walked away, giggling behind her hand. Kyoya repressed a sigh of annoyance.

As he walked out of the way for the other dancing couples, a rather puzzling sight caught the corner of his eyes. He pushed his glasses over the bridge of his nose to see more clearly.

Tamaki was in the middle of the dance floor, swirling around a smiling Granger and dancing to the classic melody they had selected as background music. The girl who had been earlier in his musings seemed completely entranced and charmed. She was clearly enjoying herself in the arms of the King.

And yet, Kyoya wondered when Hermione had arrived to the ball. He never saw her entering by the double doors to the Grand Hall, and he had kept a special eye out. And more so, why hadn't he seen her all night until now, when the ball was about to end?

Had he been really that careless as to miss her completely? Maybe he was too focused with the operation regarding the fiancées earlier and that's why he didn't notice her. He groaned loudly; he could have advance so much in his pursuit of friendship with the girl if he had realized she was there.

Kyoya didn't fret; the dance was still on and he could still ask for the last dance and maybe even success in getting a smile out of her, just like Tamaki had done. He might not be the Prince type, but he was the Cool type.

With that plan in hand, he walked towards the pair once the song had ended. Even with the distance and the loud music, he could hear the conversation between the two.

"I was a bit skeptical at first about coming today, and if it wasn't for Sirius, probably wouldn't have come either, but I have enjoyed myself greatly, Tamaki-san."

"I'm amazingly happy to hear say those words, my princess!" Tamaki beamed with happiness. "Your pleasure is what matter tonight, my darling and I would be more than delighted to see that beautiful smile on your face again."

A rosy blush arrived to Hermione's cheeks and she averted her gaze from the Host club's president. Kyoya smirked inwardly; seems like Granger wasn't so immune to the Host club's charms after all.

"Tamaki," He called out loud. The tall blonde turned around with a big smile on his face which practically blinded him.

"Oh Kyoya! Have you meet Princess Hermione?" Tamaki waved an elegant hand pointing at the girl. "She's one of the most brilliant girls I've ever had the pleasure to meet. And quite beautiful as well."

The blush on Granger's face deepened.

"Of course I know her. She's in our class after all." Kyoya said with the most charming voice he could muster. He wondered what exactly Tamaki was playing at, the blonde knew perfectly he was aware of who Granger was. If he recalled correctly, Tamaki even made fun of him almost a week ago for it.

He bowed slightly at her and thrust out a hand. "Would you do me the honor of giving me the next dance, mademoiselle?"

He could see the hesitation on Granger's face and Kyoya wondered for a moment if she would really dare to refuse. It wasn't proper etiquette to deny a man's invitation to the dance floor, and Granger seemed well verse in etiquette and what was proper.

Slowly, the girl nodded her head delicately and grabbed his hand. Kyoya, as the fine gentleman he was raised to be, guided her to the dance floor. He faced her and bow down to her, with a charming smirk at all time. They fell into position and Kyoya held her a little closer than necessarily. Later on, he would berate himself for this little fact.

They started moving, in compass to the music, her golden dress flowing around and doing a striking contrast with his black suit. But Kyoya didn't have eyes for her outfit; he was particularly interested in the small but noticeable necklace on the girl's neck. It wasn't the kind of jewelry found on shops, more like in antiques stores. It was obviously from the late nineteen century and he was fairly certain that it was authentic.

"That's quite a beautiful piece of jewelry, Granger-san. Am I right when I say it's from the Victorian Era?"

For a moment, Hermione seemed lost for words and appeared confused at his question. "Yes, you're right. It's from the 1870's. It used to belong to Elladora Black, my guardian's ancestor." She managed to reply truthfully.

"I see. So the Black family dates from centuries ago?"

"There have Black ancestors starting from the middle ages onwards, if that's what you're wondering." He caught the hint of irritation in her voice.

"Forgive me if I have somehow bothered you with my questions, princess." Kyoya said as honestly as he was capable of. "I suppose you aren't aware that thanks to the Black family, the Ootori family is now where it stands, am I right?"

Hermione stared at him wide eyed. Kyoya could understand; that bit of information wasn't really known to public and Kyoya preferred it that way. But here was the adopted ward of Lord Black, and Kyoya couldn't stop himself.

"The Ootori family, while doesn't have as many ancestors as the Black family, still dates from the 1920 and 30s. As I'm sure you well know, those were the years when the Great Depression started to grow. My great-great-great grandfather, Tomohiro Ootori was the one who founded the Ootori Empire and a man called Phineas Black (1) was the major pillar in his quest. The man had always supported my grandfather from the very beginning, but right after the first Ootori Hospital was established, he disappeared and he was never heard of again. From that moment on, the Ootori's have always been successful businessman in Japan and worldwide. So, you may understand why the surname Black interests me."

"That… That's impressive. I honestly have no idea." Hermione answered, and in a very hushed voice, which Kyoya couldn't hear clearly, she said. "That must have been one of the reasons why he was blasted off…"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, forgive me," Hermione gave him a small sheepish smile. "It has been rather refreshing talking to you, Ootori-san. I apologize if I may have seemed rude earlier. I don't feel comfortable talking about my guardian's family."

"Understandable. You were adopted, were you not?"

"Yes," Again, the hint of annoyance was there, but there was also reluctance as well. Kyoya understood the girl wasn't up to talking about her adoption. He might be heartless, but he did have tact. So he changed the subject to lighter topics

"Have you enjoyed yourself tonight?"

"Yes, it had been wonderful. Thanks for inviting, Ootori-san."

For some reason, he couldn't feel bothered with himself.

The song ended, and Hermione seemed a bit too hurried to leave his side. While he could perfectly ask for another dance, it wouldn't have been fair for the other guests who waited expectantly for him. He bow down to her once again, and this time, she did the same. She also smiled prettily at him before walking away.

That smile gave him hope.

The challenge was still on, but it was on his favor. Maybe now she wouldn't dislike him so much, and he could take another step forward with his plan.

Kyoya was definitely going to win at the end, no matter what.

**A/N: While writing the last bit about Kyoya and Hermione, I couldn't help fangirling a lot of times. . Soon there will be Mori/Harry, slow but it will come.**

**(1) According to the Black Family tree in Harry Potter Wiki, Phineas Black was the brother of Cygnus Black, Sirius Black II, Belvina Black and Arcturus Black. He was blasted off from the tree because he supported Muggle Rights. Since all his brothers lived from the 1870s and 80s to the 1940s, 50s and 60s, I gather he also lived during this period. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Again, forgive me for any misspelled/missing words! **

**Chapter Five:**

That Sunday morning, Harry dearly wished he was dead.

He hissed loudly and covered his face with the pillows when the sunlight flashed through the windows and fell on his face. He had one hell of a headache and his body felt extremely sore. The hangover was eating him alive, dramatically speaking, and he couldn't remember what he did last night to deserve such pain.

A vision of Sirius dancing and groping a woman who wasn't a woman by biological standards flashed through his eyes and Harry decided he didn't want to remember anyways.

Sirius was going to have the most painful death possible. And if that didn't work out, Harry would definitely extract his revenge, one way or another.

"Good morning, Harry" An awfully cheery voice spoke to him and he groaned loudly when it boomed inside his head.

"_Master, are you in pain?" _Gaius hissed from somewhere near his right and Harry groaned again.

"_Yeah, don't speak okay?"_ Harry hissed back and buried himself under the covers.

"Do I want to know what you guys did last night?" The same cheery voice spoke again, and now that he was more awake, he recognized it as Hermione.

"He took me to a gay bar!" Harry whined helplessly.

"Yeah, I don't want to know." Hemione concluded. "I knew I shouldn't have left you guys alone. Sirius practically threw me out of his room when I went to check on him."

Harry just grunted in agreement, realizing Sirius' actions sounded very appealing to do right now.

"Too bad, don't you think? I thought on giving you a hangover potion, but if neither of you are going to take it, I'll just throw it away."

"No wait!" Harry threw the covers off him, hissing again when the sunlight hit his skin. "Give it to me."

"Then you better wake up and take a shower, Harry James, you smell dreadful." Hermione complained and waved away the awful scent that attacked her nostrils.

"Do I have to?" Harry whined. "My head hurts!"

"Yeah, you have too. You have dueling lessons after lunch and it's almost eleven in the morning. I think you slept in long enough."

"Fine," Harry agreed reluctantly, but knowing that Hermione was right. He sat down and tried to ignore the fogginess in his brain and took with trembling hands the small potions vial Hermione handed him. He swallowed it all in one gulp, ignoring the terrible after taste. After a few seconds, the pain started to diminish and he felt slightly better.

He looked at his best friend and sister with sleepy eyes. She just eyed him sternly and with her hands on her hips, her wild curls back on full force. He couldn't believe that she was up with so much energy.

"To the shower, Harry," She pointed at a door across the room.

"Aren't you going to tell me how you night went?" He asked instead. At this, Hermione blinked.

"Do you really want to know?"

"I trust you to keep the unpleasant and awful details behind," He gave her his most dashing grin, a copy of Sirius's crooked grin.

"There aren't any awful details to tell. It was a very nice evening to be honest. Certainly more sophisticated than the Yule Ball at Hogwarts, but pretty much the same. Only, there wasn't any suspecting Death Eaters and Rita Skeeter to watch out for."

"That's a relief," Harry chuckled.

"Yeah, possibly the most interesting part of the night was when Fujioka kissed a girl that was dancing with her fiancé. I pity her."

"What? Is Fujioka that bad of a kisser or did the guy gave her a hard time about it?"

Hermione shook her head. "Oh, I'm not talking about Kanako-san, I'm talking about Haruhi. I overhead the third year host members talking about how it was _her_ first kiss. And I thought I had seen him dressed up in a pink gown a few minutes ealier. Either Haruhi is a girl dressing up as a male, or it's the other way around. And Haruhi seems too feminine to me and Tamaki-san doesn't strike me as one to be obsessed over a guy like that."

"Stop, stop, please." Harry lifted up his hand, as if he could stop physically her words. "Are you telling me Haruhi is a girl?"

"Yeah, didn't you notice?"

"Of course I didn't notice!" He shouted. Hermione just chuckle.

"Well, she is. Oh, and I found out something else!" Hermione ignored the pout coming from the black haired teen and continued. "Remember Phineas Black?"

Harry furrowed his brows. "The late headmaster, Sirius ancestor?

"No, that was Phineas Nigellus Black, the first. The Phineas I'm talking about was the one who was disowned. Phineas Black II was a supporter of Muggle Rights, therefore, he was blasted off the family tree back at Grimmauld Place."

"Ah, what about him?" Harry stood up. He was still wearing the shirt and jeans from last night which smelled terrible and were dirtied in alcohol and sweat. He seriously couldn't believe how Padfoot had convinced him to go through the events of last night.

"Has Remus said when he was coming on a visit?"

Hermione giggled at Harry's comment. "We do need Professor Lupin, don't we? He seems to be the only one who can keep Padfoot in his place."

Remus Lupin was one of the few contacts they still had back in Britain. The man was hired by Sirius to become the Black regent when Sirius left the country and he was in charge of Sirius's dealings and business as Lord Black at the Ministry. Last thing they knew, Remus was trying to use Sirius's seat at the Wizengamot to repeal the anti-werewolf legislation, made by the toad woman.

Harry subconsciously caressed the back of his right hand, where fainting markings made their presence.

"So, as I was saying," Hermione cleared her throat professionally. "It's quite possible that there was another reason why Phineas was blasted off the tree. He was the one who started the muggle businesses in Japan."

"Oh, how do you know that?" Harry said as he walked towards the bathroom.

"Well," Here, Hermione blushed unexpectedly. "When I was dancing with Ootori, he started asking me questions about the Black family. And you know I can't speak well of them since they are all distasteful against me. So, he told me that his great-great grandfather, a man called Tomohiro Ootori, was friends with Phineas Black. I bet that Phineas is the same Phineas from the Black family tree. Ootori and him seemed to have been great friends and it was thanks to the Blacks that the Ootoris are such important figures of society today."

Harry listened to all this with rapid attention. "No wonder Sirius is always in meetings with Ootori Yoshio. You know, that guy that bothers him a lot."

"Those are the worse afternoons; when Sirius comes back from work after a meeting with the Ootori Head. He must want to establish again the connection Tomohiro had in the past." Hermione said thoughtfully. "Well, no matter. Go take a shower and make sure to wear your dueling robes."

"Can't we just cancel the lesson?" Harry whined again.

"You want to win the championship or what?" Hermione rebuked and walked out Harry's room without a second glance and Harry just stared after, reluctantly admitting she was right.

After a long hot shower to ease the soreness of his body, Harry dressed in his red and black robes; his dueling robes he was gifted with last Christmas by his godfather. He refused to fix his hair; it was a lost cause anyways.

He left his room and when he passed by his godfather's room he could hear the man snoring. He was still angry with him, so he entered the room quietly and with a wave of his wand, he moved aside the curtains so the sunlight could stab Sirius in his sleep. Hearing the man groaning and cursing was music to his ears.

He joined Hermione for a late lunch. Once they finished, the doorbell rang and Tawny went to attend the guest. She came back announcing the arrival of Harry's dueling instructor.

Once Harry had showed an interest in Professional Dueling and he had told Sirius about this, his guardian searched through sky and earth for the best duelist. Since Professor Flikwick was out of question, due to living in completely different countries, Sirius settled for a Japanese Duelist. And so, Harry had met Aoyagi Mitsuo.

Japanese Dueling was slightly different than its western counterpart. It was all focused in recognize your true potential and coming into terms with your magical core, and think of it as a part of you, and as your truly source of energy. You needed to train your magical core, as more training made your core grow large and resistant. And the larger your magical core was, the more resource of energy you had within you.

It also involved physical training too. You are needed to develop quick sense of agility, speed and focus, plus learn how to sort your energy into these three points accordingly. In a duel, it wouldn't matter if your opponent was stronger than you or if he had a larger variety of spells; if you had a well grasp of your abilities and knew how to react in due time, you were sure to win.

That's something Harry was familiar with, since even though he didn't have any special knowledge or power against Voldemort, he still defeated him with a simple Experlliarmus.

Also, there was a technique Japanese Duelists seems to be fond of, and that was free style dueling. In a normal, etiquette, formal dueling, the two duelists were subjected to only use offensive and defensive spells. A spell like Wingardium Leviosa wasn't expected to use in a formal dueling, and in a professional championship, you could easily get disqualified if you do use it. But you could get away with the spell in a free style dueling championship. In free style, what counted was originality and creativity; if you could throw off your opponent with a simple every day spell, you were sure to be on the lead.

And that was what Harry was aiming for. He had already won the Junior Dueling Interstate Championship in the formal style, and now he wanted to win the same title again, but this time trying his luck in free style dueling. The championship was due at the end of summer vacation and Harry was getting only a fresh start on practice.

And that's where Aoyagi came into the picture. The man, around forty years old, was one of the best top free style duelists in the history of magical Japan. He had long midnight hair pulled into a ponytail and piercing gray eyes. His whole demeanor screamed warning; Aogayi wasn't a person to fool around with and he took his career very seriously. He wasn't at all moved with the fact that _the_ Harry Potter had asked him to become his tutor and for that, Harry was very grateful. The man was harsh on his training and in his schedule; he constantly reminded him of Snape, but without the snarky remarks about him or his father and without the blatant favoritism.

Watching now as the man entered the foyer to the manor, Harry was grateful to Hermione for not giving into his whines to cancel the lesson. He wouldn't want to disappoint the man, who hated tardiness and people not committing to their words.

"Good afternoon, Aoyagi-sensei," Harry welcomed the man and gave him a respectful bow.

"Likewise, Potter-san," The man replied, his face completely stoic.

Looking forward to a three hour lesson with the man, Harry guided him to the drawing room. The room was never returned to the previous state it was when he and Sirius "destroyed" it, so it was labeled as the Dueling room. Hermione also accompanied them; while she wasn't interested in perfecting her dueling skills, she liked to watch the lessons till the end.

Some would say Harry didn't need any training since he had already defeated _Voldemort_ and he had taught secretly Defense against the Dark Arts to a group of students.

Harry didn't agree with them when Aoyagi send him flying across the room with his first spell.

Harry wasn't sure, but he suspected that Aoyagi enjoyed beating the hell out of him in every lesson. He always had an unnatural devious glint in his eyes each time Harry fell onto the floor.

~oOo~

"Potter-kun?" A soft voice asked behind him, and Harry winced before turning around. Even with all the pain-relieving potions, he was still stiff from the dueling lessons and had a slight strained ankle, the reason why he was limping a bit through the corridors.

He faced the one who called him. To his surprise it was Haruhi, and not so far away was standing the auburn haired twins, looking at him curiously.

"Yeah, Fujioka-san?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine,"

"You sure?"

"Absolutely," Harry gave her a crooked smile. "Did you need something?"

"No, nothing."

"Alright then," Harry turned around and walked away towards his next class, purposely leaning on his right side and trying not to limp so much. He felt the large chocolate eyes on his back.

~oOo~

"Now, listen up!" The teacher spoke with authority. "I will be giving out the papers for your joint chemistry project. Remember that it represents the fifty percent of your grade for this semester. And before anyone asks, you won't be working with your usual partners in class. I have deliberately divided each of you into pairs, so you can focus on your assignment instead of wasting time in trivial nonsense."

The 2-A classroom was filled with whines and displeases sighs.

The teacher paid no mind to them and started listing off names from the papers he had in his hands. Hermione sat at her desk, waiting expectantly and wishing for a partner that wouldn't give her problems or let her do all the work. She noticed Tamaki-san was being paired with a girl and said girl fainted. So it would seem Tamaki and Kyoya wouldn't be pair up together like they always were.

She heard the professor approaching the surnames starting with "G" and instantly paid attention.

"Granger, Hermione-san, you're working with Ootori, Kyoya-san."

The classroom felt silent at that. Everyone was aware of the battle of wits between her and the Shadow King.

Said Shadow King didn't do more than stare impassively at the teacher, and Hermione knew this was going to be a long project. While she had started to gradually accept him, she wasn't sure she would have sufficient self-control if he started to act out like a git.

Little did she know that Kyoya had lifted the left corner of his lips in a tentative smirk.

~oOo~

A couple of days later after these events, a new face showed up at the host club. Renge Hoshikuji, a chaotic fangirl otaku who insisted Kyoya was her fiancé.

At that same time, Harry and Hermione were visiting the Black Magic club, located in the basement of the north wing of the school. Umehito and the rest of the members welcomed them happily, for once not wearing the black cloaks. After Harry had explained his friend his uneasy feeling towards them, Umehito always tried to meet Harry without his cloak and wig.

The blonde male was sitting in a comfy arm chair, facing both of his British friends. The rest of the black club were scattered away, some talking between themselves, other reading ancient texts of old magic. Only one girl was in their little group. She had long dark hair as well as stormy gray eyes. She sat stoically next to Umehito, since she was the vice-president of the Black Magic club; Kanazuki Reiko. (1)

"Harry, as member of the black magic club—"

"I'm still not a fully fledge member, remember?" Harry corrected. "I'm just an honorary visitor."

Umehito just smirked. "One day, my darling, I'll see you wearing that black cloak beside me." He winked at Harry flirtatiously. Harry just rolled his eyes.

"The president seems to need to display his motions of affections towards you, Potter-kun." Kanazuki said, emotionless. "Does this means there is some kind of relationship between you?"

Harry flushed deep scarlet and Hermione let out a giggle. Suddenly, he was pulled out of his seat and pushed into Umehito's arms. Harry's blush seemed to deepen.

"We would make a wonderful couple, wouldn't we?" Umehito laid a soft kiss on Harry's right cheek. "But alas, my affections haven't reached my dear Harry yet. Such a pity." Gently, he let Harry fall back onto the loveseat, the black haired boy looking deeply mortified.

"You could use a love potion," Kanazuki suggested matter-of-factly. Harry widened his eyes in horror, along with Hermione.

"Now, now, I won't force my dear Harry into anything; I wouldn't get out alive if I did." Umehito smiled kindly and Harry relaxed just slightly at his words. "Now, back to the matter at hand! Harry, I have a request to make!"

Harry lifted his green emerald eyes suspiciously at the blonde.

"Oh, don't be like that. I just wish for you to bake me a cake!" Umehito announced.

Both Harry and Hermione exchanged a look. "A cake?"

"Yes, and before you say anything, I want your cake. You may not think so, but you have a splendid culinary talent. I'm sure my mother and Kirimi-chan will say the same. Therefore, I want you to bake me a cake for the third year anniversary of the Black Magic club, to celebrate this Friday."

Blood flushed to Harry's ears at the compliment as he looked at the blonde, outraged. "Friday? That's two days from now!"

"And isn't Friday your birthday, Umehito-sempai?" Hermione added.

"Oh, is it? How nice of you to remind me, Hermione dear!" Umehito cooed happily. "So, what do you say, Harry dear? Pretty please? I'll give you a curse Belzeneff doll and a free pass to our upcoming dark artifacts exhibits!"

"You're going to expose dark artifacts to the students!" Hermione practically jumped out of her seat.

"The muggles would believe anything you tell them, my dear." Umehito clarified, shrugging his shoulders. "Could you believe they think my precious Belzeneff puppet is cursed? How horribly uncultured!"

While it wasn't an affirmation that no, he wasn't exposing dark artifacts, it was subtle enough to understand that only the members of the magic club would know that they weren't really dark.

"I guess I could," Harry said sheepishly. "Bake you the cake, I mean."

And he was instantly attacked by an overly jovial blonde into a bone-crushing hug.

~oOo~

Maybe one of the few things that Harry could appreciate from his upbringing at the Dursleys was their insistence that Harry learned how to cook from a very young age. It was one of his few hobbies that he greatly enjoyed.

Harry loved baking; cakes, tarts, cookies, you name it.

That's why, when he had been offered the list of electives for the school year, when he knew there was a cooking/baking course for first years, he signed his name right away. Hermione, meanwhile, had taken Conversational French as her elective.

He took the class every Tuesdays and Thursdays, and it would carry along for the first semester. Until now, the class only had been introduced to the basic rules to follow inside the kitchen and baked only simple things. But the teacher who gave the class had been very impressed with Harry's skills. She usually had to teach kids who had never stepped inside a kitchen before, and was happy to have Harry in her class. That's why Harry had special permission to use the Cooking rooms at the school whenever he wanted.

"I don't know why you are baking here instead at home, Harry," Hermione sighed from the stool she was sitting on, a chemistry book on her hands.

Harry was currently in Cooking Room 3, using the oven facilities. He wore a pink checkered apron over his school sweater (he had tossed away the school blazer) and had flour all over his raven haired from running his hands all over it. He was looking over all the cupboards and slamming them shut loudly.

"I can't find more flour!" He shouted in desperation.

Hermione raised her look from the book on her lap and stared at him in amusement. Harry really looked funny with the flour spots on his hair and his emerald eyes distressed. She almost took pity on him.

"Why do you need more flour?"

"For the cake, Neenie! For the cake! Umehito wants the cake for tomorrow and if I do this at home, Sirius won't be able to keep his hands to himself. Now, I need more flour!" Harry ran another flour covered hand through his hair.

Hermione went pensive for a moment. "Wouldn't the other cooking rooms have flour? Isn't each cooking room stock with materials and such?"

"You're brilliant Neenie!" Harry shouted before dashing towards the door, leaving her alone with her book and the fresh baked eight inches wide vanilla cake Harry had taken out from the oven not so long ago. She eyed the sweet thoughtfully.

"_Self-control, Granger,"_

Harry walked down the corridor with a small smile on his face. Cooking Room two and four had been closed, but a student told him Cooking Room 1 was currently open. He just hoped there was more spare flour he could use; he really didn't want to disappoint Umehito since the blonde awaited expectantly for his present.

As Harry turned at the corner, he realized the entrance to the cooking room was occupied. A group of six men were standing at the doorway, seemingly interested in what was going on inside. He recognized the Hittachin twins, Suoh and Ootori, plus the two third year students he couldn't remember the names of; a short blonde haired boy who looked like the tiniest first year from Hogwarts, and the tallest man he had ever seen, who didn't look like a student at all.

As if he had called him, the tallest student swirled his head around to look at him, charcoal black eyes meeting with emerald green.

All of a sudden, Harry felt as if he was being smack by a bludger, leaving him stunned and breathless. He felt his heart accelerate inside his ribcage, and he felt as if his whole world had stopped moving, as cliché as it sounded. And just by looking into the charcoal eyes, he knew the other tall male was feeling the same way.

He gasped as he fell onto the floor, blackness gaining him over.

For what Harry felt like an eternity under his unconsciousness, it was really just a minute. A minute where Takashi Morinozuka felt like it was an eternity too, as he dashed toward the smaller male in an attempt to break his fall.

"Takashi?" He heard his cousin calling from behind.

Takashi held the smaller male in his arms, shaking him awake. He vaguely noticed how small and thin this boy was and the mop of black hair that tickled his face. To his great relief, the boy came to his sense rather quickly, fluttering his eyes open. Again, Takashi felt how all the air left his lungs as he stared into enchanting emerald eyes.

"Nhg, what happened?" The boy asked, with a voice not too high nor not too deep, perfect for him.

"Are you alright?" Takashi asked quietly. He felt the gaze from the rest of the club members, but paid no mind to it.

"Yeah, thanks, I'm alright," The boy nodded, as to convince himself and tried to stand up. Takashi helped him until the boy could stand on his own.

"Hey, Potter!" He heard Hikaru and Kaoru calling. "You went a bit wonky there, are you okay?"

"Just got a bit dizzy," Harry mumbled as walked towards them, leaving the tall third year behind.

"Are you okay?" The short blond asked with big brown eyes. "Do you need to go to the nurse's office?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine," Harry said a bit more snappish. "Excuse me," He said towards Tamaki and Kyoya, who were blocking the entrance.

"Hey, Potter-kun!" Haruhi greeted his classmate with a smile. Beside her, there was a frantic Renge trying to figure out how to work a stove for her cookie batch. Crazy woman, Harry thought.

"You look pale, Potter-kun. You're alright?"

"Why doesn't anyone believe me when I say I'm fine?" Harry snapped, exasperated. For some reason, Renge started staring at him intently, which unnerved him.

"Well, if you say so, Potter-kun." Haruhi gave him an easy smile. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah, flour. Do you have some? The stocks at Cooking Room Three are over," He explained.

"Oh" Haruhi said, looking around. "I'm sure I saw a bag of flour somewhere..." She muttered to herself and immediately started searching for the bag in the cupboards. While Haruhi was doing this, Renge finally spoke.

"What's up with your bird nest of a hair?"

Harry found her to be quite rude. "Nothing really, my hair always had a mind of its own. I doubt it anyone could tame it down."

Meanwhile, Harry didn't notice the twins were behind him until they both threw an arm around his shoulders, startling him. Harry tried to shake them off, but both Hittachin hold him still, grinning deviously.

"So, your hair has a mind of its own?" Asked the one at his right.

"We're quite sure we could tame it down,"

"We're professionals, after all."

"And you could get a better, sexier hairstyle than a bird's nest," they finished.

Harry actually laughed. It was a low chuckle nonetheless. "Funny, I was always told that my bed-head hairstyle was sexy; they said it made me look like I just shagged someone,"

Hikaru and Kaoru narrowed their eyes at him, studying him.

"It could pass—"

"As such, in certain—"

"Circumstances, but we think—"

"You could do better than a-"

"Bird's nest," They finished together, a smirk filled of mischief.

Harry couldn't help but feel a pang of hurt when the sudden image of two familiar red-head twins came into mind. The Hittachin twins reminded him too much of the Weasley twins to dislike them, really.

"I'll think about it, if I ever wish to get rid of my bird's nest. Now, let me take my flour with me." He took the bag of flour Haruhi tossed at him and made a dash towards the door. He heard the host club members being yelled at by Renge, something about characters revision. He was lucky to not be subjected to the woman's medusa-like anger.

When he returned to the cooking room, he was shocked to find Hermione with her small hands taking a large chunk of the vanilla cake he had made for Umehito. Needless to say, he was pissed.

~oOo~

"The next few days are going to be hectic, huh Takashi?" Mitsukuni Haninozuka asked his cousin, Takashi Morinozuka, as they walked down the hallways towards the exit of the school.

"Aa," was the only reply he received. Renge had announced that they were going to through a major character revision, and even film a movie about it. While Takashi couldn't understand why they were to be subjected to a character revision, he didn't complain. Mitsukuni and the others had decided to go along with it, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Besides, watching his cousin act like a bully sure was going to be entertaining.

The other members of the Host club were worried about what exactly Renge had in store for them; him, meanwhile, was thinking over a pair of emerald green eyes and their owner.

Ever since he had seen the black haired boy that day when he helped Haruhi with his books, he felt intrigued. But since the boy didn't return again, he squashed the feeling away, and proceed to concentrate in other things. He did get to see the boy in the hallways, and sometimes at lunch. He could notice the boy was nice enough, but guarded, and didn't seem to like spending time with company, except for the bushy haired girl Hermione. Takashi had met her at the ball, and she was nice and polite, if a bit bossy. She and Kyoya clashed constantly, and Takashi figured it was because of their personalities; they both wanted to be the best and to be in control.

Returning to Potter, he didn't know what to make of him. When they made eye contact in the hallway, he had feel the knots twisting in his stomach for no reason apparent. Takashi had just stared into Harry's green eyes and he had felt lost, sick, joyful, breathless and just plain excitement. And he had just _known_ that the first year had felt the same way, and the fainting that followed was a perfect giveaway.

While Harry was asking something to Haruhi and then was harassed by the twins, Takashi took a minute to analysis the teen. He was short, just a few inches taller than Haruhi, and he was very thin. His mop of black hair stuck out in every direction, and he had heard the twins saying something about bird's nest and shagging. Harry was small and frail, almost like Haruhi, and seemed to walk with a grace only those with years of practice could muster. His green eyes were vivid, but he could see the shadows underneath. Harry wasn't happy.

He knew Harry and Haruhi were sort of friends and now it seemed like the twins were getting under that title. He found himself hoping that someday they would drag him to the club room, so that way, Takashi could learn more about him.

"Oh!" Mitsukuni exclaimed, with a big smile on his face, interrupting Takashi's musings. "Go that way, Takashi!" He pointed the hallway which held the Cooking Rooms from earlier. Only one room seemed to be in use and a delicious scent of vanilla was coming from it.

"Aa," He turned left and they headed towards the room. As they approached, they heard two voices laughing and giggling. Mitsukuni and he exchanged a glance before looking inside the room.

To his surprise, both Hermione and Potter were inside, the latter carrying a large tray with vanilla cupcakes. Hermione was trying to steal one but Harry was pulling the tray out of her reach. They seemed to have finished their baking and they only had to clean up the place.

The bushy-haired girl was the first one to notice them at the door. She smiled warming at them. "Oh, hello Hunny-san, Mori-san!" Hermione greeted happily. "What brings you here?"

Mitsukuni jumped in at the opportunity. "We were just going home when we smelled sweets and we followed the scent and we ended here! Are those cupcakes? They smelled delicious, Hermione-chan!" he squealed delighted.

"Why, thanks! But I didn't bake them; Harry did,"

"Harry?" Hunny asked and Hermione pointed at black haired boy, who had a faint blush on his cheeks. Takashi noted that Harry was trying not to making eye contact with him and that upset him a bit.

"Neenie..." He mumbled out a bit. "They're for a friend," he explained. He placed the cupcakes tray next to a freshly baked vanilla cake.

Takashi could see the longing in his cousin's eyes and how much he wanted to at least try one of the cupcakes. Hermione also seemed to notice this, so she picked two cupcakes from the tray, taking Harry by surprise.

"Here, Hunny-san, Mori-san," She gave Hunny and Mori each a cupcake, while Harry was staring at her surprised. His eyes softened however, when Hunny started eating the small cake ravenously.

"This is the best cupcake ever, Harri-chan! Your friend is going to love them!" Hunny complimented and Takashi had to admit the cupcake was really good.

"That's what I keep telling him," Hermione agreed.

"Ne, ne, Harri-chan!" Hunny said a second later after he swallowed the cupcake. "Do you think you could make us more cupcakes?! I'm sure everyone in the club will love them! They are really good! And you should believe me, because I know everything there is about cakes!"

"Um, I—"

"I'm sure Harry will loved to, when he finds time, Hunny-san," Hermione said. "I'll make sure he bakes them for you really soon,"

"Yay!" Hunny squealed joyfully. Hermione giggled and Harry was just glaring daggers at her. Takashi couldn't help but find the scene amusing for some reason and his lips quirked upwards.

Suddenly, Harry looked at him again and he felt all the nerves in his body come to life as those eyes trailed him from head to toes. What was this feeling?

"We should be leaving now, but we should really meet again sometime! Isn't that right, Takashi?" His cousin told them as he climbed up to his shoulders without struggle and he just limited himself to reply with a single "Aa,"

"Thanks for the cupcakes, they were delicious!" Hunny giggled. "Bye, Neenie-chan, Harri-chan!"

The two siblings waved goodbye and Takashi gave a soft grunt. He walked out of the cooking room and down the hall, towards the front gates where his driver was supposed to be waiting.

"Ne, Takashi?" Mitsukuni whispered.

"Hm?"

"We should try and be friends with Neenie-chan and Harri-chan! They seem very lonely, don't you think?"

"Aa,"

As they climbed into the car, Takashi's thoughts drifted again to the green-eyed teen and the slight flutter inside his chest.

**A/N: Like I said, MorixHarry soon, didn't I? Now, what probably won't be up soon is the next chapter. Next week I finally start my last year in highschool, so it means homework, projects and all that jazz again.**

**The "Lady Manager" episode comes first in the manga timeline and they show Haruhi and Renge baking. I don't think it's ever said when Nekozawa's birthday is, so I made it up.**

**(1) Reiko Kanazuki is a character from the manga, who made her debut in Chapter 41.**

**Also, A shout out to WHYDOYOUNEEDTOKNOW, who was the one who came up with the nickname "Neenie" for Hermione in the first place in her fic "Living with Danger". If you haven't read any of her work, go, go, go!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I think I should clear this up. The pairing is Harry/Mori and Kyoya/Hermione. Some of you want Nekozawa/Harry or Kyoya/Harry, but I have already made up my mind. Don't worry, I like Nekozawa too much to leave him alone. I can promise you there's definitely someone out there for him in my AU. And I just love the idea of Hermione and Kyoya together, and I'm not going to change it.**

**I don't have a beta, so any mistakes you find, I apologize.**

**Chapter Six:**

They were smiling.

Around him, a number of faceless Death Eaters were smiling wickedly at him. He tried to avoid them by shutting his eyes, but he had the image imprinted on his mind. All he could hear was the insanely laugher of each of them, hollow and disdainful. He wanted to leave, but he was forced inside a rectangular cage and with his wand out of reach. He knew he didn't have much time.

The sky above him shifted into angry red swirls and gray clouds clogging the light and sun. Loud thunder boomed above him and Harry's knees were trembling nervously. But he had to get out! He had to!

Suddenly, a tall black figure stood, with sharp snake like features and red bloody eyes. The almost non-existent lips stretched out in a mocking smirk, and the creature looked down at Harry. The black-haired boy, covered in blood and dirt from all the fighting tried to break away the bars from his tiny prison. Lord Voldemort continued to stare at him from above while waving his wand around, flashing green light to all directions.

Another shift into the murky scene, and there was a pile of bodies laying down in the Hogwarts courtyard. Some of them continued to be faceless, but Harry could distinguish the features from the bodies closest to him.

There was Cedric, Luna, Neville, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Remus, Tonks, Lily and James, Ginny, Seamus, Dean, Ron, Hermione, Sirius…

His throat was hoarse from all the screaming and his desperate tears had trailed down his cheeks.

The scene shifted again, and he found himself standing on a hill, and Voldemort at the top. He was without his wand again, and there was a whole gang of death eaters behind him, ready to attack.

"See what you did, boy? They all died because of you!" Voldemort purred.

"No!" Harry screamed.

"You failed them." The creature continued. "And because of that, you shall never live in peace!"

"No, get away! That's not true!"

"Prepare to die, boy," Voldemort raised his wand and a stream of green light shot forward.

"HARRY!"

Harry woke up panting and sweating heavily. He felt himself shivering and his teeth chattered. He was also soaked from head to toes, along with his bed sheets. He looked desperately for his glasses, which were on top of his nightstand, and when he was finally able to see clear, he realized Sirius and Hermione were sitting on his bed, the older male with his wand drawn.

Hermione's warm caramel eyes were startled and in the verge of tears. There was a rather solemn expression on Sirius's face which didn't quite fit him at all. He could even spot Gaius at the foot of his bed, hissing lowly and in alert. Harry bowed his head, as the blush bloomed in his neck to the tip of his ears.

"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione was the first one to break the silence.

"I'm—"

"You told us the dreams stopped." Sirius broke in. "You told us we didn't have to worry anymore, because you weren't having any more dreams."

"They did, they really did stop." Harry cried. "I don't know why now… I'm fine, really—"

"Don't, Harry." Sirius interrupted again. He was in his serious-guardian mode. "You might think you're fine, but you certainly aren't. Hermione,"

The bushy-haired girl, who was been earlier startled by Harry's horrible screams and his frantic thrashes around the bed, looked up at her adopted guardian.

"Could you please get Harry a Dreamless-Sleep? And a Calming-Draught?"

The girl just nodded, and with a last glance at her friend and adopted brother, she swept out of the room. Sirius, meanwhile, he pulled away the wet covers from Harry's bed and called Tawny to take them away. The older male, pulled the smaller teen in his lap and dried his wet clothes with a drying charm. Harry didn't put resist or protested; he was still stunned from his night terror. He clung to Sirius's arms, holding for dear life. A few more tears slid down his face, but he didn't sob.

"Tell me about your dream." Sirius said simply. But Harry couldn't comply, as much as he wanted. The man sighed, and placed his chin atop Harry's head.

"You know, Prongslet, this can't continue like this."

Harry didn't say anything.

"When we came here, it was to leave all this behind. I'm not saying you shouldn't be able to grieve or to feel sad about what happened, but this is hurting you, pup, and I don't want to see you hurt.

Harry stayed silent.

"When we came to Japan, I gave you the choice to search for help, since you didn't want St. Mungos'. But you refuse all the options I gave you. You told us you were feeling great each day that passed and the nightmares were gone. But this tells me otherwise. How long you've been having these dreams, and please tell me the truth."

"I haven't been having dreams, Siri! I don't know why tonight I did. I thought I was getting better, I swear I'm not lying to you!" Harry finally spoke in a rather fragile voice, from all the yelling.

"Hmm," Sirius hummed. He rubbed Harry's back in an attempt to sooth the boy down. The teen relaxed a bit more. Sirius kissed the mop of unruly strands of black hair. "I don't want you to relapse, Harry. You have to tell me these things."

Harry just nodded, sniffing his nose.

"I think we should call the healer—"

"No!" Harry instantly perked up, staring at Sirius with wild eyes. "I don't need a healer, Siri. I'm fine! Maybe it happened 'cause it's going to be June soon? Almost a year…" Harry trailed off.

"So you're blaming the date?" Sirius let out a soft laugh. "Maybe it could a possibility…"

"Please, Padfoot… I don't need a mind healer. It was just a nightmare. I'm not crazy or none of those stuff…"

"I know you aren't, pup." Sirius gave him a tight hug. "But I don't want those nightmares to give you problems either… Promise me that if you have one of these nightmares again, you will tell me and you will agree to whatever help I find reasonable."

Harry nodded in affirmation, and that was enough for him. They stayed a moment in complete silence, until Harry scowled and frowned up at his guardian. "You woke me up with an Aguamenti, didn't you?"

Sirius grinned sheepishly. "It was the first thing that came to mind; you weren't responding to Hermione."

Speaking of the girl, Hermione returned to Harry's room with two vials on her hands and Harry didn't waste time in swallowing them. Already a bit more calmed and after assuring Hermione he was alright and they would talk in the morning, he bid goodnight to his godfather and adopted-sister and both Sirius and Hermione left his room.

Harry lay back down on his bed, facing the ceiling with a dull face. Flashes of his old nightmares and his own memories of the war appeared in his mind and he shivered slightly.

"_Master?"_ Gaius appeared at his side, sliding up his body and seeking for comfort from his master's body heat.

"_I forgot the damn silencing charm, Gaius."_ Harry whispered as he waved his wand and casted said spells around his room. _"I can't stand the worry looks of them, you know?"_

"_Yesss, but master shouldn't lie to his dogfather."_ Gaius hissed.

"_Yeah, but I don't want them to worry."_ Harry turned on his side. _"I'm supposed to have moved on; I can't just tell them I dream about them dying all the time. I don't want them to know something's wrong with me." He yawned._

"_Sleep, massster. I'll watch out for you,"_ Gaius pecked Harry on his cheek with his tongue and said boy giggled softly before falling into a dreamless sleep.

~oOo~

"You're all set, Harry?" Hermione asked as she entered the kitchen with her satchel in hands and waved away the curls from her face. Harry was currently at the breakfast table, wearing an apron again over his uniform and a bag of icing in his hands. His tongue was stuck between the left corner of his lips and his brows were furrowed in concentration.

He was decorating the vanilla cake he had done yesterday. The icing was white and yellow, while the frosting cover was black. There were drawings of men in cloaks and in bold red letters it read: "Happy Third Year Anniversary" and under it was, "Happy Birthday, Umehito," For the final touch, there were small replicas of Belzeneff's face made in gum paste.

Harry seemed very pleased with his work. He beamed at Hermione. "How does it look?"

"It looks wonderful!" She exclaimed honestly. "How is it that Sirius still hasn't eaten it?"

"I asked Tawny to look after it and casted a stasis charm over it." Harry answered simply.

"Good thinking," She praised. As Harry continued to add some finishing touches to the cake, she proceeded to watch him carefully. Last night was horrible; she had never heard Harry scream like that before, not even when he was briefly tortured by the Death Eaters long ago. And the way he thrashed around the bed like if he had been possessed by something was scary. He was so trapped inside his mind she couldn't get him to wake up, and that scared her. What if Harry couldn't wake from a nightmare? The possibility existed, of getting bound inside one's dreams forever. The mind had a funny way of working with your subconscious…

"Today's just a half day, isn't it?" Harry asked. "The Black Magic club will have plenty of time to celebrate Umehito-sempai's birthday."

Hermione nodded, while asking herself which was the best way to ask Harry about last night. He had the carefree, friendly façade on, and she didn't want to ruin it. Last year autumn, all he did was grieve and brood around, as well as mourning the loss of those whom they cared about. It was nice to see he was finally moving on, or at the very least, was still trying.

But what happened last night still worried her.

A small slim snake appeared next to her, passing by her shoes and climbing up the breakfast table. The snake flicked its tongue to catch the scents, and for a quick second, it turned his eyes at her before hissing something at Harry.

"Gaius says good morning," Harry translated. Hermione snorted.

"Good morning to you too. Any reason why he's being strangely friendly?"

"He wants to come to Ouran again." Harry said after a few moments of hissing with his familiar. "So he can keep an eye on me." He hissed something back, which of course, Hermione couldn't understand.

In other circumstances, Hermione would have profusely denied the snake's wish. But giving what happened, she didn't want Harry to be alone. "If promise to stay with you at all times, and doesn't wander around the school grounds, I guess he can go," She replied.

The snake lifted itself on his belly and was almost at eye level with her. She had to admit Gaius was very intelligent. The snake moved his head, as if nodding. Harry had once told her the snake could understand human language, so when Harry was looking for something in the fridge, she whispered quietly:

"Please, if anything happens, come find me immediately."

The snake just nodded again.

"Tawny," Harry called. Said house elf appeared at the end of the table. Harry's smile widened. "Would you please take care of the cake? As in, don't let Sirius eat it? I will call you when it's time to have the cake deliver,"

"Of course, Young Master Harry! Tawny will take care of Master's cake!" The elf said enthusiastically.

Harry washed himself and rolled his sleeves down after he was done in the kitchen. Hermione, who was waiting for him at the apparition atrium, gave him his satchel and blazer. Sirius had already left for work, claiming he had an important meeting which Tanaka kept pestering him about.

"We better go, or else, we're going to be late," Hermione hurried.

"Yeah, yeah, alright," Harry replied tiredly, and with a pop, both teenagers disapparated to an alleyway near the school.

~oOo~

Renge Hoshikuji was having the time of her life.

The overly joyful fangirl, who had an unhealthy obsession with the game Uki Doki Memorial and its characters, was scribbling furiously in her notebook, writing the perfect script for the movie the Host club was going to film for her. It had to be perfect, she had to get each personality well described and well planned, because that's what a character revision was all about. It wasn't her fault the host club members filled perfectly the cast for an Uki Doki movie, it was just her luck.

As she wrote down a scene involving the Hittachiin twins and a basketball game, she thought of the last volume of her favorite video game. The game wasn't on the market yet, but there were rumors that the creators were going to include new characters. Renge, being the spoiled daughter of a wealthy businessman, had already played the game and she had met Hisame Nobuyuki. Like all the characters, she liked him very much, but not as much as Miyabi Ichijo. (1) Actually, Hisame had a very striking resemblance with one male English student from her class.

She looked around, and she saw Potter sitting at the right side of the classroom. His desk was next to the windows in the last vertical line. If she had to honest, Potter's hair greatly annoyed her –she preferred Kyoya's silky and perfect hairstyle— but his eyes were beautiful. They were a green she had never seen before, and there was so depth in them, she could eat three whole bowls of rice. It was almost like if the creators had drafted Hisame around Potter, and Hisame was such a tragic character, a lost soul in the games of Fate.

A little idea started forming in Renge's uncontrolled imagination. In the game, Hisame had ended as part of the group of students from Uki Doki, also becoming great friends with Miyabi. And it was hard not to notice Potter's appeal with the girls. At the other side of the room, three girls were giggling while ogling at Potter, who was blissfully unaware of his surroundings. She wondered if Potter had any experience as a host back in Britain. She could imagine him flashing a playful smile, charming the girls with his cute English accent, and if he were to fix his hair appropriately, he would—

Renge held her breath. Potter was running a hand through his hair, making it stick at all directions. He stood up from his chair and walked towards the door, where the three girls were still standing. Renge ducked her head, wondering if he had finally noticed she had been staring. Potter walked passed by her without glancing and headed for the door. Renge, being a proud member of the female species, knew that Sakurakano was also enchanted with Potter's dark aura. So she knew right away, when the girl tripped over to fall in Potter's arms, it wasn't an accident at all.

Potter caught her with grace, and for a moment, concern flicked through those green orbs (were Renge anyone else, they would have known that flicker was of irritation) Sakurakano apologized, pretending to be embarrassed, but Harry only gave her a quick smile and said it was nothing, before leaving the classroom.

Renge sighed dreamily; Harry was a complete gentleman, even when dealing with girls like Sakurakano, just like Hisame. And his dark and loner demeanor was enigmatic.

Wouldn't her dear Kyoya like to produce more profit for the club? Having Harry as a host would be splendid for business! Kyoya would even praise her for having such a good idea!

Renge had made up her mind, a devious glint in her honey eyes. She would convince Harry to join the host club, so like Hisame, he can finally find acceptance and friendship around the other hosts. And even if he was a phony prince, she knew Tamaki would agree with her. She giggled happily to herself.

Haruhi, who was sitting not so far away from her, shivered slightly.

~oOo~

A black-haired boy and a bushy haired girl were sharing a table in one of the three libraries. Since the students were class free right after lunch, the girl had dragged them to the library to finish off some of the homework they both had. The boy hadn't wanted to; he didn't feel like studying, but the girl was quite stubborn when she wanted to. So, in the least crowded of all the libraries, they were sitting at a table far away from public view.

Harry was reviewing on history, while Hermione was furiously scribbling down notes on her writing pad. She had three Chemistry books around her and one on Physics. A drop of sweat rolled down her right temple.

"Still with that Chemistry project?" Harry asked.

"Don't say a word!" Hermione almost shrieked. "This project is half our grade, plus we still have to study for the midterm exams! I can't believe I'm saying this, but right now, I think I prefer potions with Snape to chemistry. It's not just that I haven't been taking this class since forever, but I'm also stuck with Ootori, and he's so infuriating! He doesn't think chemistry is worth to worry about! He even put me in charge! He's far more worried with managing that club of theirs—"

"Neenie, breathe," Harry said after he got dizzy from Hermione's rambling.

The girl took a deep breath. "Sorry. But I'm just so stressed! I know Ootori cares about his grades, but he hasn't been around to work on the project and this was supposed to be a joint work. Tamaki-san keeps him very busy. Schoolwork must always come first."

Harry just nodded, deciding to not reply to the last comment. "I think we should take a break for today. Let's head to the north building, it's almost time for the party anyways."

"No, I can't take a break. Tomorrow, I have my Healing and First Aid class, and I don't want to fall behind. You go, Harry. I'll catch up later."

Harry sighed. Hermione was as stubborn as ever. He picked up his books and satchel, and was very careful to not wake up Gaius, who was sleeping around her shoulders. He bid his sister goodbye and exited the library.

The hallways were void of students; probably they were in club meetings or in the order libraries. Harry was still thinking to which club sign up to, but for the life of him, he couldn't decide. If there was a Dueling club, he would have been the first one to write down his name. The Black Magic club was okay, but since the majority of them were squib, magical study was reduced to theory and Harry sucked at theory. He preferred being practical over reading books any day.

Any sports club would be a nice choice, if it wasn't for the fact that he couldn't find a sport as fascinating as Quidditch. At primary school, since he was never selected to be part of the sports team (thanks to his cousin), he never was good at soccer, basketball, tennis or cricket. He could run very fast, but the track and field team only accepted those who had competed previously in the sport. Other sports team in Ouran included the Swim club, the Karate club and the Kendo club, but for all those you needed the same requirements as the Track and Field team.

Maybe he could introduce Quidditch to Ouran? Nah, these stuck up rich people wouldn't survive five minutes on a broom, never mind ride them.

So Harry was club-less and that was a problem, since it was imperative for him to join an extracurricular activity. If someone were to check his school record, he would immediately be called to the office for that minor detail.

His mind wandered to the Black Magic club again, and smiled slightly. He entered an empty classroom, and softly called, "Tawny"

"Young Master Harry!" Tawny appeared on top of one of the desk, her big golf ball eyes wide open. "What can Tawny do for you?"

"Please bring what I gave you to look after, Tawny." He said politely. The elf pop away, and a minute later, returned with a white box in hands, which she carefully handed over to her master.

Harry looked inside the box and was pleased to see that his work hadn't suffered the minimal damage. He felt very proud of it, if he was allowed to say so. "Thanks Tawny,"

"Tawny lives to serve Master Black and his son and daughter!" The elf declared before disappareting away.

Harry smiled. Time to go and give Umehito his birthday present.

~oOo~

Probably nobody else noticed him, but Takashi did. Granted, he only did because he was always aware of his surroundings. While the others were speaking with Renge after Kyoya had broken the lens of the camera, something had made Takashi look towards the direction of the outdoor hallways. A teenage boy, no older than a first year was strolling down the hallway. The now recognizable pitch black hair was swishing from side to side as he walked. Takashi shoudn't be so surprise of seeing the boy so soon after yesterday, but he was.

He also noticed the snake was over his shoulders again. Takashi loved animals, but poisonous snakes were not on his favorite list. He wondered how Harry could feel so comfortable with the serpent so close.

He continued to look after the boy who was walking, more like jogging down the corridor, so he knew exactly when Harry took a misstep and trip over one of the lose tiles. Naturally, he fell down and quite a spectacular fall it was.

Takashi didn't even consider what the others would think if they saw him helping Harry, it's not like he cared, as he ran towards the fallen boy, leaving his cousin behind. He didn't get to see the curious look he got from Mitsukuni.

His shoes squished and it was annoying to move around in wet clothes, but finally he reached to Harry's side. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulders, effectively startling the boy. Wide emerald eyes looked at him from below, and Takashi felt a tug to his heart.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly.

"I think I scrapped my knees, and my hands hurt as well, but otherwise I'm fine." Harry replied, in that soft, delicate voice of his. It's not as he had a girly voice, but it wasn't deep as Takashi's. Takashi nodded and again, like he did yesterday, he helped Harry up. The boy stood straight, and winced at the pain on his knees.

"Thanks," He said quietly. Takashi just nodded again. There was an uncomfortable silence until Harry suddenly started looking around. Takashi spotted a white box, the one he was carrying, and he bent down to pick it up.

"Oh no!" Harry gasped softly. He took the box out of Takashi's hands and checked the inside. Takashi heard him groaning angrily.

"The letters are damaged! After everything I did!"

Takashi took the liberty to look inside the box too, which the boy didn't seem to mind. It seemed to be the cake he had made yesterday, but it was decorated in the finest way; _was_ because now it looked like a mess. He couldn't read for who it was though, since the letters were unreadable.

"I don't have time to fix this, I hope he doesn't mind much…" Harry muttered to himself.

If it was Takashi, he wouldn't mind. Like his cousin would say, it was the cake that mattered, and if the cake tasted as well as the cupcakes he had yesterday, then he wouldn't mind the mess of frosting.

"Well, anyways, thanks for er, helping me." Harry gave him a small tentative smile. "It's nice to see Ouran isn't completely filled with rich bastards."

Takashi suppressed a snort. Someone needed to have a chat with Haruhi. Briefly, Harry stared at his wet clothes, raising one eyebrow in confusion.

"Why are you wet?"

"Rain" Takashi saw a hint of understanding and amusement in those green orbs.

Without warning, a small head pop out of Harry's blazer, and it hissed. Takashi had forgotten about the snake, and so seem Harry. The snake slither up again to the boy's shoulders, and for a moment, Takashi wondered if it was going to bite him.

"This is Gaius," Harry introduced. "The little bugger must have hid in my clothes when I fell. He's an Indian cobra. Don't worry. He won't bite you." Harry assured.

Takashi could only nod, entranced with the serpent. Gaius was very pretty.

"Eh, well, I have to leave…" The boy spoke, taking a small step back. Takashi's eyes soften and inclined his head. Harry just waved goodbye and left, box in his hands.

When Takashi saw the last flicker of black and blue blazer, he sighed silently to himself and scratched the back of his head. _That was awkward_, he thought. He turned around to face one of the pillars.

"Come out, Mitsukuni."

The blonde loli-shota type practically skipped out of his hiding place with a huge grin. "Sorry!" he said bashfully. "You were really nice, Takashi, helping Harri-chan like that. What did the box have anyways that got damaged?"

"A cake. The frosting was smeared."

Mitsukuni's eyes watered comically and few seconds later, he was wailing for the lost cake.

**A/N: I know Hunny… Oh, the cake! Guysss, I'm sorry for taking so long to update; high school is beating the life out of me. It's only been two weeks and everything is: exams, essays, selling stuff from our graduation funds, more exams, then worrying about getting a job and then more exams... *sees the pile of homework she has yet to do***

**(1) Miyabi Ichijo is the character Renge is comparing Kyoya with, in the "Lady Manager" chapter/episode. Uki Doki Memorial is the name of the video game she's obsessed with. In the anime, there is a scene where all the characters of the game appear and they all seem very similar to the hosts, so I believe Renge is comparing all of them to these characters and that's what cause the character revision in the first place, because Tamaki and co. weren't acting as in the video game. Also, Renge is comparing Harry to another character, so whatever she thinks about Harry shouldn't be taken seriously xDD**

**I feel like Takashi talked a lot in this chapter, but he only spoke four short line. Is that too much?**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Apologies for any misspelled/missing words.**

**Chapter Seven:**

The week following Umehito's birthday and Renge's arrival to Ouran Academy, the Physical Exams were announced. When Sirius signed the permission forms for said exams, he clearly didn't think about neither of his charges physical conditions.

Harry's and Hermione's physic health weren't exactly the best, especially the former's. Due to all the damage the Dursleys caused to Harry's early childhood and the following years at Hogwarts, Harry was a very short and thin boy, almost bordering in an anorexic body. He stood at 5'3 inches and weighted 105lbs. Faded scars covered his body except for the brilliant lightning bolt on his forehead. Every two years, his prescription glasses had the be checked and corrected, since he spent so many years without proper eye care. The boy was currently in a nutriment potion prescription which he had to endure for at least two and a half years, if he wanted to finally have his growth sprout.

Hermione, while of course she didn't have the same upbringing as Harry, her health did flare in her last year at Hogwarts, especially on the last battle. She had been a victim of many Crucios and other curses and in result, she spent many days in St. Mungos along with her adopted brother. She had ended up battered and with many neurological and muscular effects. For almost a month, she suffered muscle spasms, sensory sensitivity and insomnia. But thanks to all the advances in the Potions field and medicine, her health became stable once again. After a year, she could say she was almost healed, if it wasn't for the occasional tremors and newly discovered nervous tics.

Both Harry and Hermione were under vigilance of a very competent Japanese Healer, and there was no reason for them to assist a physical at Ouran Academy. But of course, Sirius didn't think of that when he signed the papers for permission. Now, the problem was, that if any of the doctors or nurses were to check on them, they would probably call on Sirius and have him explain, and there was no way to explain the torture of a Crucio without involving magic.

When Hermione explained this diligently to the Animagus, the man rebuked saying he had everything under control and waved them off with a happy grin.

And now, Harry was on his way to his first physical exam ever. The ones at the St. Mungus didn't count, and neither did his stays at the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. He didn't know what to expect and his classmates around him spoke of it as if it was a normal occurrence. He plastered his fringe over his forehead, making sure to cover the cursed scar. He had let his hair grow since he arrived to Japan and now it brushed his shoulders, more like the hair style he had on fourth year. Until now, nobody had seen his scar and he couldn't ask for more.

"Hey, Potter-kun,"

Harry broke off of his thoughts and looked to his right to find Haruhi walking beside him. And what was even more odd, the Hittachin twins were right behind them.

"Hey,"

"Have you ever had a physical exam before?" Haruhi asked. She seemed as nervous as he was because of this.

"No, not really. It wasn't a formality at my old school." Or at least, Harry didn't think so. He felt like he had to say more, so he said, "Not that I needed it, I practically had my own bed at the Hospital Wing."

"Why was that?" The twins asked.

"Far too many accidents I would like to admit," Harry said sheepishly, and the twins laughed at his expression. "I don't really know what to expect though,"

"Well, it's obvious," Hikaru began.

"It's just a physical exam, why should it be any different?" Kaoru ended.

"I never thought of it that way," Haruhi put it. They had arrived to the hall, and Haruhi was given the task to open the double doors.

Harry had the strong urge to turn half around and run away. All the doctors and nurses were looking at him with big grins on their faces and that unnerved him greatly. He entered the room right behind the first year trio and he tried his best to become invisible, until one of the nurses was to call him.

After a while, he noticed Haruhi and the twins weren't the only hosts present. There was Suoh and Ootori right there, the latter writing on a black notebook. Like any other rich student from Ouran Academy, they seemed very confident and full of themselves, just like the Slytherins. He didn't understand why Hermione was so against Ootori, as she had to deal with Draco Malfoy five years before. Ootori couldn't possibly be worse than him.

He also saw the third year host members, even though he couldn't guess for the life of him why they were dressed as doctors. If they were trying to pass unnoticed they were failing ridiculously. What had Hermione said their names were? Ah, Hunny-san and Mori-san. And Mori-san is the one who helped him the other day.

Unexpectedly, when the Hittachin twins were displaying their sculptured torsos to the female public, Mori looked around and his dark charcoal eyes fell on him. For only a second, he felt as everything around him didn't matter before he began to blush furiously.

He had to investigate why this kept happening to him. It had already happened three times, and losing one's breath over someone else wasn't normal. He looked away from the dark eyes just in time, because a female nurse had approached him.

"Potter-Black-san, please come this way," The young looking nurse said smiling. Harry just nodded and followed the woman to one of the white curtained booths.

Inside the booth, there was a simple stretcher, a pair of chairs, a small desk with all the medical necessities and a weighting scale. Harry felt a twinge of nervousness, and once again, wondered what did Padfoot mean with "he had everything under control."

Sitting in a chair with a folder on her hands was his doctor, who smiled at him. She sent away the nurse and closed the curtains.

"Hello, Mr. Potter," The woman said in English. "My name is Healer Matsuoka and I'll be your medi-witch for today. I've been aware of your situation and Miss Granger's by Lord Black, so you don't need to worry about the muggle doctors finding out about your health."

When the woman had said the word Healer, Harry had already sighed in relief. The doctor laughed softly at him, and after scribbling down some words on the folder, she began the exam.

It didn't last long, the exam, and the woman didn't seem fazed by his scars, although her eyes did widen in anger when she read about the earlier child abuse. The medi-witch checked his height, his weight, his blood pressure, his heart palpitations, eyes, mouth, and reflexes, and while she did, she kept him talking and asking about unimportant things, like his classes and hobbies. The exam was done in fifteen minutes total, and Matsuoka thanked him for being so obedient.

"Now, wait here until I return," The medi-witch ordered before rolling aside the curtains and leaving him alone.

No more than five minutes later, a bushy-haired girl with the Ouran uniform entered the booth.

"Hey Neenie,"

"Hey, Harry. How was it? The exams I mean." She took a seat next to him on the stretcher.

"It went surprisingly well, considering I was all but biting my nails off in anticipation. Why couldn't Sirius just tell us a witch was going to give us the exam?"

Hermione giggled. "He's a drama queen, so that was due to happen. Healer Matsuoka also gave me my physical exam yesterday. She explained she was to fill the muggle records with today's data and send this checkup to the branch of St. Mungos in Japan. It still looks like you have to continue with the nutriment prescription though."

Harry grimaced. "Don't remind me; those nutriment potions taste awful."

Hermione didn't reply and started biting down her lower lip. She wanted to ask something to the black haired boy beside her, but she didn't know how to. Even though Harry had tried to delude her, she had seen the dark shadows under his eyes before he could glamour them. She knew Harry hasn't had a good night sleep for a while now. She wanted to confront him about it, but she couldn't know how he would take her questions.

She cleared her throat loudly. "So Harry, how have you been sleeping lately?"

Well, nobody has ever described her as subtle.

Harry stared at her with an eyebrow raised. "Fine, why?"

"You sure? No more nightmares?" The green eyed boy shook his head. She sighed. "Well, that's good." She knew he was lying. She chewed on her lip again. "I… you really scared me that night ago, Harry."

"I apologize," Harry muttered under his breath.

She swallowed. "I… I know you have said ever since when came to Japan you've been recuperating from everything, but these things take time to heal, and I think it would be better if we search—"

"Neenie, give it a rest!" Harry suddenly shouted, and jumped off the stretcher. "I'm not seeing a mind healer and that's final!"

"But Harry! The nightmares—"

"Are over! That was just a onetime occurrence! I'm not having someone checking inside my mind just because of a stupid dream! Especially if they're going to use Legilimency!"

"Harry, they're not going to behave like Snape did! What that man did was unacceptable, but you can't expect the same from a professional! It's called confidential for a reason!"

"You think I'm not right up in the head, is that it? You finally believe the old man's lies, don't you?! I'm not crazy and I don't need someone invading my mind to prove it!"

Hermione sighed exasperated. "You know I'll believe you over anything that old fool says, right? I just say it might be better if you—"

"I won't let anyone use Legilimency on me again." Harry said angrily. "Snape fucked up my mind; I won't let anyone mind-rape me again. I don't need therapy. I'm alright." He finished in a whisper.

Harry turned halfway around, averting her gaze. Hermione sighed quietly. She didn't know how to reach for her brother. It was obvious he needed help, but why doesn't he accept it? Just like Sirius, she didn't want him to suffer or to pain. Why must Harry be so difficult?"

The curtains were rolled aside, and Healer Matsuoka came in. She was confused when she saw Hermione standing next to Harry.

Hermione blushed slightly. "I apologize for intruding; I was just speaking with my brother. I'll be leaving now." The Healer nodded and Hermione looked at Harry again, "See you later, okay?"

Hermione walked out the curtained booth. The first years students were still getting their exams, so the bushy-haired girl decided to go to library for a while.

Little did she and Harry know, that two auburn haired twins were being checked next to their booth and they had heard all their conversation.

~oOo~

In the great Ootori mansion, in the east wing of the manor, there was a young man trying to longue comfortably in the small living room of his quarters. The bare skin of his chest was flushed thanks to the hot water that had fallen minutes earlier. There was a towel around his shoulders, which he left there after drying his hair with it. He flexed his neck to side to side, setting the muscles loose. It had been a fairly tiresome day for him and that hot bath had done wonders to his energy.

Kyoya was currently typing away on his laptop some accountant sheets from the club's incomes. Ever since Haruhi became a member of the host club, the large digits of the profits had grown even larger. The numbers of customers had doubled thanks to the comical relief the king, the twins and Haruhi provided. The ladies enjoyed watching the hosts fooling around and who was him to deny that pleasure? It seemed like he will have to raise Haruhi's quota a bit more so the young girl would stay a while longer.

Aside from that, business in the club was doing marvelous. That being so, it almost didn't let him with any free time. Not that he wanted time to spare; he was as workaholic as they come, but he had other pressing matters to attend, like his grades.

When he had talked to the Chemistry teacher into pairing him with Granger, he really did believe he would have the opportunity to work together, as working with Tamaki had become tiresome. The blonde was intelligent, but was too easily distracted. He knew working with Granger would be different, and more rewarding, since she took her schoolwork even more seriously than him. Kyoya had to reluctantly admit she was a worthy opponent when it came to academics.

But somehow, he hadn't found a way to meet up with her to work together. Tamaki had been making his life unbearable with all the things he asks for the club, making it extra hard to find free time to even attend to himself. He knew the girl was thinking he didn't care for his grades, but he liked for her to have a flamboyant best friend over him twenty-four slash seven. Let's see if she wouldn't find herself in the same predicament as him.

But he wouldn't let that deter him. He will find a way to get closer to Granger.

The subtle sound of his cell phone vibrating met his ears and he dug into his school bag for the device. Staring at the screen, he didn't recognize the number. He dearly wished it wasn't _another_ customer who somehow had mysteriously gotten his number.

"Good afternoon, Ootori Kyoya speaking?" He answered. The room fell into silence as Kyoya listened to the hurricane in the other line.

"Ah, Renge-san. While it is very surprising, may I ask how you got my number?"

…

"I see. Glad to know the host club has a manager with the connections you do," He said while typing some random name on his laptop.

…

"Renge, while I'm sure you have a very good reason to call, I don't think this is the time –a proposal?"

…

"I'm listening,"

…

"Potter-san?"

…

"How can you be so sure?"

…

"Hmm… that's a very interesting notion, Renge. You do remember the saying "you shouldn't judge a book by its cover" do you?"

…

"So you're saying you even prepare a study related to Potter-kun's popularity? And how do you think this will affect the club?"

…

"Of course Tamaki has thought in asking Potter-kun to join. Not that he has tried."

…

"I will abstain myself from commenting, if you don't mind."

…

"Hm, I'll speak with the King about it. I must say you are worthy of being the Host club's manager, Renge. Any person interested in the club increasing profits is accepted in my book. Do please keep me update will you? And yes, I will subscribe you into a free week with Haruhi, as you asked. Good bye now." (1)

Kyoya's devilish smirk could freeze anyone from miles away.

~oOo~

Hermione was finishing her essay on Healing Potions for her First Aid class when her cell phone began ringing. The device was magically charmed to work under the magical waves of the ancient manor, so there wasn't any risk for it to get damaged.

"Hello, Hermione Granger speaking?" She said in fast English, forgetting for a moment most of her contacts spoke in Japanese. "I mean, eh—"

"Granger-san?" A silky and smooth voice spoke in her ear and Hermione's eyes widened.

"Ootori-san?" She exclaimed fairly surprised. Since when Ootori had her phone number? That was strange.

"Is this a bad timing?"

"Oh no, no, I was just surprised," Hermione laughed nervously. "Um, how can I help?"

"Granger-san, I thought we could later in the week meet to get update in our Chemistry project." Hermione heard him purring.

"Oh, sure. That's great actually; I wanted to consult you in some points before I could carry the investigation and experimentation."

Hermione heard him groaning. "Does this mean you already have all the background information?"

"Well sure I do!" She almost replied offended. "Even though we have to turn it at the end of the semester, I'd like for this to be out of schedule as soon as possible. Wouldn't you? Anyways, I'd like to show all my findings to you, as you're my partner and all. I spent all of my week on this, God this is even more tasking than few of my old classes seriously…"

"Excuse me?"

Hermione flushed at her slip. "Forgive me, I was carried away. So, when do we meet?"

There was a short silence before he spoke. "Let me treat you, mademoiselle. How would you like to spend a free afternoon with the company of our fair Hosts in exchange for you outstanding school work dedication?"

The quill between Hermione's fingers slipped from her grip. "What?"

"Granger-san, I'm sure I'm not the first one who says you have to find time to relax, and the Host club is the perfect place. It is also the most convenient place for me to meet."

Hermione had taken the quill in her fingers again, but this time, it snapped in half. She recoiled for a few seconds before smiling sweetly. "What about the library?"

"Sure you have noticed the environment isn't the best? Or do you study better when you have a certain level of noise around you?"

_I have certainly grown used to it, with being sorted into Gryffindor and all_, she thought. "You're right." She admitted reluctantly before sighing. "Isn't there any other place we could work instead of your club room?"

"I'm afraid not, I do have club hours to fill in, unlike you." She swore he was smirking.

Thankfully, there was a knock on her door. Harry opened slightly and showed her his newly done essay. Hermione made a sign for him to wait a second.

"Mm, Ootori-san do you mind giving me a few minutes? I won't be long." And without waiting for an answer, she placed down the phone on her bed and walked towards Harry, who had an eyebrow raised.

"Ootori-san?" he asked amused.

"I can't imagine how he got my phone number in the first place. Only Ayame-san has it. He's calling me to ask me to meet him later in the week at the Host Club headquarters." Harry was to say something, but Hermione went first.

"Can you believe him? He doesn't even think of saying sorry for leave me all the work! Now he tells me it's the most convenient place for him; what about me then? And he just played the "club hours fill in" card on me!" (2)

"Oh, that's a low blow." Harry said thoroughly amused.

"Can't he just say I'm sorry I haven't been there to help you and ask nicely if I could meet him wherever he wants without bribing me with his club services?"

"I don't think Ootori is the type to say sorry to anyone, Neenie," Harry pointed out. "He seems too cool for that."

"You're not helping, Harry."

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "You should go, at least to get him off your shoulders. What's the worst that could happen? Guys flirting with you?" Hermione slapped him on the shoulder, and he cried out in pain. "I don't mean as a bad thing! I know you're not like normal girls, but-"

"Do you really want to finish that sentence?" Hermione threatened sweetly. The black haired boy shook his head and scrambled out of the room. The girl sighed before setting down on her bed and grabbing her phone.

"Ootori-san? Sorry for leaving you waiting."

"Don't mind it. Have you decided?" He asked hurriedly. Hermione thought she heard some happy voices on the background.

"Yes, I'll meet you there later in the week,"

"Perfect," He smirked, or so she thought. "I bid you good night, mademoiselle."

The call was over before she could reply.

~oOo~

"Harry-kun!" An overly joyful female with honey colored hair and a bright red ribbon on top called him from a distance, and Harry knew he had to follow his instincts to flee.

All this week, Renge, the crazy woman, has been trying to approach for some reason or another. And with a great amount of luck he didn't know he had, he has managed to dodge her every time. But she kept smiling at him, like if she knew a very dark secret and he was involved in it. He knew she was danger and that he had to stay away from her, if he wanted to live.

So, when he heard her irritating high pitch voice, he whirled towards the direction to the Black Magic club's basement in the north building. He would like to set Gaius on her, just to give her a scare, but alas, Hermione wouldn't approve of it.

He walked down the corridors that lead to basement, each one growing darker and darker. It reminded Harry of the dungeons at Hogwarts and he hated it. Even after months later, Harry still hated the dark. But Umehito loved them, because it protected him of the light.

When he entered the basement, it looked as it was a week ago. But today, everyone was gathered around a figure sobbing on a loveseat. Kanazuki-san, with all her stoical face, was holding the tall blonde shoulders as he blew his nose on a tissue. The rest of the club members were shaking their head angrily.

"Umehito-sempai?" Harry called, and all of them whirled their head at the green eyed wizard. "What's wrong?"

"Oh!" The tall blonde third year continued to sob helplessly, and Kanazuki managed to look uncomfortable for a second. "They're murderers! Murderers!"

"What? Who?" Harry knelt in front of his first friend in Japan. He noticed the older teen was breathing heavily and sweating, as if he just got the scare of his lifetime. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying!" Umehito sniffled.

"It seems like someone has dared to shower our Prince with bright light, perfectly knowing that it would harm him," One of the club member explained.

Harry saw red. "WHAT?"

"He had decided to go around the school, announcing our exposition of dark artifacts and our new Belzeneff curse dolls for the public." Kanazuki continued.

"I think he said the Host club had attacked him when he went for a visit…" Someone murmured.

"It's this true, Umehito-sempai?" Harry looked up to his friend. "Did they hurt you?"

Umehito looked surprised at Harry's concern. "It's alright, Harry-kun. They…"

"No, it's not alright. You told me yourself; you can't face bright light because of your health. Do you really think it's acceptable for them to do so? You should have hexed them!"

"No without breaking the Secrecy Code." Umehito chuckled lightly.

"Well, there's more ways to give them a lesson without breaking the Secrecy Code!" Harry said as he lifted himself up from the floor.

"Harry-kun! Where are you going?" Umehito shouted alarmed.

But Harry didn't answer, as he ran out in direction towards the third music room.

~oOo~

In a normal timeline without any interruptions, this would be the case where the twins would began to argue in order to get Haruhi to invite them to her house, but since a black haired boy was currently fuming because of their actions against his friend, this fight would be left for later.

It also wasn't going to as planned, since one bushy haired girl was also there, working with her chemistry partner in a separated table from the crowd, and she wasn't on the original timeline either.

But that didn't mean they didn't try.

"Admit it Hikaru, you're in love with Haruhi, aren't you?"

"What? You got all wrong Kaoru! Man, you're such an idiot!"

They were just interrupted. By a loud bang of the double doors hitting their opposite walls.

All of the club members and present customers turned towards the birth of the sound, and instead they found a black haired teenager, his hair looked untamed and his green emerald eyes gleaming furiously. He was panting and looked ready to murder.

"Who did it?" He asked.

It took a few seconds for the club members to recover from their shock.

"Potter-kun?" Haruhi was the first to receive him.

"Who did it?"

"Did what?"

"Who dare to show bright light to Umehito-sempai when it's perfectly well known that he's sensitive to it and it's damaging to his health?!" He practically screamed. "I don't really care who you are, but you're going to pay for that!"

"Harry!" Hermione lifted from her seat and approached her pseudo-brother. "What on earth you're talking about?"

"Were you not here for it?" Harry asked snidely. "Someone from this petty club dared to hurt Umehito-sempai! Don't you think there's a reason why he's always with that black cloak of his?"

Tamaki tried to look righteous as he walked towards the first year, but in truth, he was all for running away from the angry teen. "Please, calm down, Potter-kun! As the president of the Host club, I tell you we didn't mean to hurt our dear Nekozawa, even though he has hurt us in the past."

"Oh, don't go blaming Umehito-sempai for your stupidity! I'm sure he didn't have anything to do with it!" Harry barked back. "Now, which of you dimwits did it?"

"We just thought he didn't like bright lights," One of the Hittachin twins spoke.

"I mean, who would want to wear such a tasteless cloak like he does?" The other followed.

"And the boss kept saying stuff about how he cursed people,"

"And we were bored,"

"So, we took a flashlight,"

"And flash it to his face,"

"He was being a bit annoying anyways,"

"We didn't mean anything by it," They both finished with a bored expression.

"And just because you're bored, you think you can go around and do whatever you like?!" Harry spat.

Suddenly, the windows started rattling angrily and the tea cup clinked on their plates. The customers, who were focused on the argument, squealed in surprise when some of the tea cups turned to the sides and crashed on the floor. The trays filled with sweets clanked and Hunny, who was eating a strawberry cake, backed away from his table, his eyes widened.

"An earthquake!" Some of the customers yelled..

Hermione, who immediately recognized the signs of wild pre-accidental magic, dashed towards Harry and placed a hand on his shoulders. "Calm down," she whispered on his ear. The green eyed boy broke from his stupor and held on to Hermione's arm, while taking deep breaths.

As fast as it came, the shaking and clanking of the windows and tea sets paused, and everything became normal again. There was a deafening silence before it turned into hushed whispers.

"Is everyone alright?" Haruhi asked to all of them. The majority of them nodded while some girls were sobbing quietly. "Potter-kun, Hermione-san, are you alright?"

"Yes," The bushy haired girl replied before turned towards Harry. "We should go. Now." The boy grunted in agreement.

Hermione took a minute to recollect her things and satchel, and gave Kyoya a stiffed nod. Lacing arms with Harry, she dragged him out of the music room, leaving the host club to comfort the distress customers.

**AN: This chapter was going to have so many scenes but this is how it ended, because I don't want to hurry anything, yet. I'm planning in updating every one or two weekend time, however it works with my schedule.**

**1) If the conversation has confused you, please do tell me. I just trying something new here, and if it makes it difficult for you to understand successfully, I won't do it again.**

**2) In my school, you have to join a club and fill in at least 40 hours. I'm using my school system with this.**

**I hope you liked it and please do tell me what you think!**


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